Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Mammon's Wrath
by And then the sky
Summary: Sateriasis Marlon is a sixteen year old student who is better known by his alter-ego Mammon, a relentless hunter currently contracted to the Knights of Hanoi tasked with the elimination of Playmaker. He's regarded by many as a highly dangerous individual with no sense of morality but you know what they say about assuming...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this'll be my first time attempting to write for Vrains, I feel since Vrains is a darker storyline than Arc V (the one I usually write for) I can let myself loose a bit in regards to what I can get away with. If you've read the True Draco King you'll know the type of material I delve into. Without further ado here we go!**

 **Chapter one: Judgment of Corruption.**

"Consider my proposition here."A man spoke towards a sixteen year old teen "I'm offering you a good deal here. You get your money and I get a troublesome person removed from the scene it's a win for both of us in layman's terms." The man's smirk widened at the thought of finally eliminating the person in question.

The teen spoke in a very flat tone with a very distinctive lack of inflection and empathy "Fine by me but show me the money first, I want to see that I will indeed receive what you are offering, I don't do empty jobs."

"I knew you'd say something like that. So…" The man took a brown envelope from his jacket and passed it to the teen "You can take the payment now if you wish… Sateriasis" Opening the envelope, Sateriasis' eyes widened then shrunk with intent, smirking he responded "I'll do as you wish, Playmaker will be destroyed by any means required."

Sateriasis Marlon had relatively pale skin a common trait amongst his family, his blood red eyes that often contrasted heavily to his skin tone, his hair was quite a long purple colour and went down to the middle of his back when not tied back as it often was. Currently he was wearing a black hooded jacket with golden trims, a navy blue t-shirt, sliver jeans held up by a black belt with a golden buckle and finally he was wearing grey combat boots that shot his height up from 5'11 to 6'1. Buckled to his arm was a diamond shaped green duel disk that had a black wrist band.

"If this meeting is over, I'll be on my way. May I ask your name in case we ever meet again?" Sateriasis said pulling up his hood and tucking the envelope under his arm.

"There are somethings you don't need to know just yet, my name is one of them but trust me when I say we'll meet again very soon."

"Humph. Alright then…" Sateriasis made his way out of the secluded alleyway he was in and travelled towards where he lived. He didn't have any parents to go home to as they'd kicked the bucket and the only person he was ever close to in anyway was out of commission.

Working his way through the crowd of people gathered at the centre of the city, he ran into a certain person he was 'acquainted to' "Sateriasis! Sateriasis!" The person shouted out upon spotting his 'friend'.

Sateriasis sighed heavily "Yes? What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" He held up the envelope to prove his claim "Oh…I'm sorry, didn't realise you had a job. I just thought we might watch the upcoming duels in Link Vrains, Y'know like friends."

Sateriasis was about to reject this offer but quickly thought better of it "Actually. Y'know what, I will take you up on that Allen." Allen's eyes lit up "Really? You mean it?!"

"Sure. Who are the main ones?" He asked half curious as he had the intent to interfere if the situation dictated it.

"I believe It's Go Onizuka and Blue Angel!" Sateriasis' face soured at the last name.

"That airheaded optimist!" Allen caught wind quickly, knowing of his immense 'dislike' of Blue Angel "Sat. I know you don't like her but we're in a public location do calm it."

' _It's all a ploy anyway, all smoke and mirrors, throw enough shiny lights in someone's face and they'll lose sight of the world around them!'_ Sateriasis thought spitefully, information he had received said that something big was set to happen this day.

This intelligence was confirmed when he and Allen heard a cacophony of screams coming from multiple VR avatars on the screen as they were brutally deleted by the scorching flames that came from a black scaled dragoon which had appeared seemingly out of thin air and started attacking Link VRAINS.

' _Wait, who's that..?'_ His attention was drawn to a figure that stood confidently upon the Dragon's head who was wearing a white robe and hid their face with a grey mask.

"Hanoi!" Allen exclaimed "Sat, do something!"

Sateriasis moved away without saying a word to Allen "Hey Sat where are you going?!" All that was given in return was a three fingered gesture.

Sateriasis raced to his apartment as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. Locking his door, he then went off to another section of the room that was laden with a keypad. _'1068'_ He quickly punched in the code revealing his access room to Link VRAINS. He calmly strode into the centre.

"Into the...VRAINS!" shouted Sateriasis as his body got surrounded by data and 'Into the VRAINS' flashed on his Duel Disk.

"Welcome to Link VRAINS! Mammon!" Greeted Sateriasis' disk AI with the user name he had developed an infamous reputation with.

Sateriasis now had one emerald green eye and one royal purple eye, to make sure no similarities other than speech pattern were noted his hair was much shorter and was spiky that shot out in multiple directions at the back to form an 'X' shape, it also changed colour from purple to blue. His getup consisted of a jet black outfit that had zigzagging purple lines periodically crossing each other to form multiple symbols that only bore relevance to him, his boots didn't change and he wore pure white gloves. On his belt there were numerous devices and tools.

He had joined standing on a rooftop, not too far away from the ensuing carnage.

"Vanish!" a voice shouted with temerity. Mammon turned around to see the Knight of Hanoi on its dragon as it unleashed fire towards Blue Angel. He watched on with eager anticipation at the final destruction of his most hated person in all of Link VRAINS.

To his surprise and massive dismay, a mysterious Individual had saved the Charisma Duelist from her impending doom.

"Who are you?!" The knight shouted angered and incredibly annoyed at the fact his mission had been compromised

"My name is Playmaker." he responded as he raised his arm, revealing his Duel Disk with an eye in it. "I have what you're looking for. Stop attacking Link VRAINS; If you don't I'll erase it right now!" This was perhaps the best case scenario for Mammon, an up and coming match between his target and his current employer.

"Hey!" The eye exclaimed loudly glaring daggers at Playmaker "Don't treat your saviour as a hostage."

"I've converted this program into a duel program," Playmaker said mentally tuning out and ignoring the A.I. "If you want it you are going to have to beat me in a duel!"

"This'll be fun…" Mammon grinned wildly at the scene unfolding in front of him.

"Fine!" The knight hissed then smirked "You'll learn what happens when you oppose Hanoi!"

"I'm looking forward to it." Playmaker said stoically.

The two began to move to another area, the city area to be exact with Mammon swiftly following suit via the still intact rooftops. They both glared at each other with nothing but pure intent to defeat their opposing number.

It was then the A.I. In Playmaker's disk began to glow purple whilst it started to speak "Cyberse! Release data material!"

' _Cyberse? Interesting…'_ Mammon thought hard at the AI's words.

Without warning a pillar of light shot out of Playmaker's disk, causing a portal to open up in the sky that from which a purple stream poured out of.

The powerful gust that blew against Mammon caught him completely off guard, something very unusual for someone that was always on top of things as Sateriasis was. "Wind…But how is this happening…"

While he was busy trying to reaffirm his own grasp on the situation, a second development once again blind sighted him. Playmaker had jumped into the air and landed upon a D-Board which had zoomed to meet him. He was now surfing the wind, so to say.

"It's a data storm." He'd finally reaffirmed his grasp on the situation, just enough to be sure of himself.

The knight too surfed the storm on top of his own board. _'Speed duel huh? I guess that should spice things up a bit…'_ Personally he was more familiar towards the more advanced version, the master duel. But since multiple factors led into his work he wasn't that clueless however he took the leisure to run over the rules in his head.

' _In a Speed Duel, there are three Main Monster Zones, along with two Extra Monster Zones. Instead of five, there are three Spell/Trap Zones just like the Main Monster Zones. To compound this, you start with only four cards in your hand and the Main Phase 2 is non-existent. All in all it gives you a different challenge to normal._ '

Observing from his post he witnessed the knight take the first move, summoning two weak monsters to use as tribute fodder for his most powerful monster. The one he rode when he first arrived onto the scene. A monster known as Cracking Dragon.

' _Looks like it's all-guns-a-blazing for Hanoi!'_ Mammon tapped his forearm three times _'Playmaker has got a mountain to climb if he wants to win.'_

Playmaker took the next turn, drawing as if his life depended on it. To begin with he placed two cards face down then keeping the fact that there was no Main Phase 2 in mind, he summoned Cyberse Wizard. Which as is suggested was a Cyberse monster.

' _Cyberse monster…I thought they didn't exist anymore, Playmaker…What an interesting character.'_

Cracking Dragon's effect triggered instantly, lowering Wizard's attack and dealing decent damage to Playmaker. This move was quickly countered however when Playmaker activated his monster's ability to switch the destructive black dragon into defence mode evening managing to use this to deal piercing damage but due to the dragon's effect it was protected from destruction.

It seemed that the match was at a deadlock for now.

But that changed dramatically upon the activation of the knight's skill, DDoS attack which cut down Playmaker's life points significantly, the shockwave knocked him from his board and it would've sent him crashing down to earth had it not been for Blue angel who appeared and rescued Playmaker returning the favor he did for her.

Mammon felt a mixture of emotions following that event, one he was happy that Playmaker had been saved as it gave him the honour of finishing off the proclaimed 'Hero of Vrains' but second he disliked the fact that it was Blue Angel who had intervened to save him.

"You there!" Came a voice behind him making him break off eye contact with the duel and turn to face his own intruder.

"Yes what do you want?" He asked in his altered voice, another pro caution he had taken in an attempt to hide his identity, It now had an almost ghost like quality.

"You're Mammon aren't you?" The individual asked his own question completely ignoring Sateriasis' one.

"Depends. Who am I talking to?" The individual in question was clad in a blue uniform that had his collar flipped up and pressed against his neck. His uniform consisted of a pair of black trousers, a royal blue jacket that its collar upturned and what appeared to be a symbol of sorts. Furthermore he was wearing brown combat boots and concealed his face via a mask. His hair was a stark white and incredibly messy with some of it even drooping over the mask.

"I gather you're a bounty hunter yourself?" Mammon nodded, not really too interested in the situation "You may well be surprised to know that I'm one myself, I work for SOL Technologies you see, and they're very interested in you."

"I guess my reputation proceeds me if they are interested in me. May I ask who exactly you are?"

"My name is Colt." He said with a tone flat enough to almost reach Sateriasis' level.

"To answer your starting question, I am indeed the person you are looking for but now I want the answer to my question what do you want?"

"You see SOL have tasked me to hunt down and defeat any troublemakers in the system and your name was at the head of the list." Colt revealed the cobalt blue disk that was attached to his arm.

"You've come to challenge me then in layman's terms." Colt nodded at Mammon's analogy. "Well then! So be it!" He revealed his own disk.

" **Duel!"** The two hunters shouted beginning the Master Duel.

 **Turn 1**

"I'll be going first if you don't mind!" Mammon said as five holographic cards appeared floating in the air before him, 2 monsters, 2 spells and a trap.

"I begin by activating the continuous spell **Network Corruption!** " The card art depicted a string of binary text which was beginning to turn into a bunch of indecipherable gibberish, in the shadows, two monsters could be seen supposedly the ones causing the corruption. One of them was a grinning imp while the other was a devilish dragon.

"Network Corruption grants me the ability to once per turn add one of my level four or lower 'corruption' monsters to my hand and all I have to do to sustain this ability is pay five hundred life points on my standby phases!" He searched through the cards available to him, finally settling on one after a while.

"I add to my hand the level 2 monster **Corruption Gear!** Now since neither of us control a monster I can summon this monster from my hand! Come on out level 5 **Greedy Corruption Demon!** "

Greedy Corruption Demon was a maniacal hell spawn for lack of a better term. It had blood red wings, horns and pointed tail that contrasted with his black scaly skin. Razor sharp teeth were visible when the creature opened its mouth. Its eyes had an unnatural yellow glow to them, usually striking fear into Mammon's opponent.

 _Greedy Corruption Demon Level 5, fiend, DARK_ ( **2500/** 1300)

"Now there is a great cost to this bonus, since I summoned him this way one thousand of his attack points are rendered effectively null and void." A black mist formed over the top of the demon and drained the thousand points away.

Greedy Corruption Demon Atk: **2500 - 1500**

"What was the point in summoning him if he's just going to be weakened?" Colt was unable to comprehend Mammon's line of reasoning for weakening his own monster, while the blue haired duelist in question merely tutted at his opposite number.

"You'll find out right now! Left unchecked corruption can ravage a system, destroying countless hours of work and decades of progress! Using his effect from my hand I summon my Corruption Gear to the field!"

Corruption gear was an old rusted cog that appeared to have suffered from heavy metal fatigue and corrosion as bits of it could be seen falling off.

 _Corruption gear Level 2, fiend, Dark (0/_ _ **1000**_ _)_

"Corruption Gear can be summoned to my side of the field so long as another corruption monster is present and said monster has attack below 2000." Mammon explained trying his hardest not to burst out laughing so as not to look insane.

"That's why you summoned your demon first, you used his weakness to your advantage. Not bad if I do say so myself." Colt was becoming more and more interested in his target by the second.

"Why thank you! But I'm not done just yet! I use my normal summon for the turn to summon forth **Paladin of Corruption!** "

This monster was a knight in shining armour…If you discount the half of the body that was covered by a black oozing sludge, it also had a tattered red cape that swung over the right side of its body. The sword it wielded was tarnished, looking like it too had fallen victim to corrosion.

 _Paladin of Corruption_ _Level 4, fiend, Dark_ ( **1600** /1200)

Mammon ginned wildly causing Colt to become slightly concerned "Now! Appear the corrupted circuit that destroys all!" Mammon continued as he appeared in the link square "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two 'Corruption' monsters! I set Paladin of Corruption, Greedy Corruption Demon and Corruption Gear into the link markers!" The three monsters transformed into black electricity jolts.

"Link summon! Link 3! Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon!"

Mammon's ace was massive, it could easily be seen a mile away which it was by a frog avatar and a pigeon one that clutched the frog tightly in its talons.

"I don't think anything else is happening." The pigeon spoke "Playmaker's done with that knight and those two were the only ones online."

"Don't worry about it! I'm certain our big break is just around the corner!" The frog said with a certain fire about him.

"As if! I mean we're not just going to go round this corner and see the most terrifying dragon known to man!"

Cue Sod's law as the two passed the last building on the block and came into view of Corruption Dragon.

"Oh my GOD!" The pigeon screamed, startled by Mammon's dragon, so badly taken back that he nearly lost his grip upon his frog companion.

Corruption Dragon was covered with black and blue scaly armour that stood on two clawed feet, it had four wings on its back, the top two were blue and bigger than the lower set of black ones, its head was covered with four horns two on its forehead and the remaining two was placed underneath its chin. The eyes were over a sliver colour that like GCD had an unnatural glow to them. It had a tail that split into two at the end with each ending have detailed golden tip.

 _Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon Link 3, Dragon, Dark,_ ( **2400** ) **Markers: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right**.

"Isn't she just wonderful?" Mammon said looking up in twisted glee at his dragon.

' _This guy's mental…'_ Colt thought growing ever more disturbed by Mammon.

"Unfortunately since this is the first turn, I can't attack and have no other choice than to delay the inevitable, I place one card facedown and pass it off to you my fellow hunter."

 **Turn 2**

"I have to finish this before it gets any worse…" Colt muttered under his breath as he brought his hand over to draw. "I draw!"

"To start with a play my **Enigma Code** spell card!" The card art was that of an infamous code used during the times of a dire war "Now unlike your card, this is a one for one, with it I can add any monster in my deck that has 2000 or lower attack points."

"Basically inferior in layman's terms." Mammon commented uninterested

"I now summon **Codecracker Signal Operator!** " The monster that appeared was a military man that had an earpiece in his ear and was carrying on him a radio that was spurting out static that was periodically interrupted by a stream of numbers.

 _Codecracker Signal Operator_ , _level 4, warrior, EARTH (_ _ **1600**_ _/400)_

"By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I can activate Signal Operator's ability!" The monster leaned in closer to the radio and began to tune it "Signal Operator can call up another Codecracker in my hand to the field of battle!"

"Please welcome **Codecracker Drone!** "

A small black circular drone began to fly across Colt's field.

 _Codecracker Drone Level 1 (0/_ _ **200)**_

"What could that thing do except pester me." Mammon said miffed at the constant droning of the turboprops as it began to fly over him.

"Don't jump the gun. I activate his effect!" The drone then shot a beam of code at Mammon's disk "I get to send the top three cards of your deck to the graveyard and for every monster sent there you take 500 points of damage!"

The top three cards of the blue haired hunter's deck was shown, it consisted of two monsters and one trap card.

"You have two monsters, so that means you'll be taking 1000 points of damage!" The drone opened up its Bombay doors and let loose a small yet powerful payload that obliterated the area surrounding where Mammon stood.

' _That should've knocked him out of commission…'_ But as the smoke cleared the opposite was clear and all Colt was able to do was gasp.

"You really thought that'd be enough to beat me?" Mammon said with the twisted look still not leaving his face. Despite the fact that he was now precariously perched on the edge of the roof top, having been blown back by the force.

Mammon's LP: **4000 – 3000**

' _Damnit!'_ Colt thought, he then looked down at his hand to see if there was any way he could get rid of Corruption Dragon.

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Colt said unable to think his way out of the situation just yet.

 **Turn 3**

"Then the pleasure is all mine!" Mammon said as he smirked when he realized what he had just drawn.

"Your spell card's effect activates here!" Colt shouted "You lose 500 life points!"

Mammon's LP: **3000 – 2500**

"I play **Corrupted Twin Twister!** " This card depicted art very similar to the original twin twister but in the background Corruption Dragon's eyes could be seen and a dark claw was emerging, that made contact with the second twister turning some of it black.

"Much like the original Twin Twister to activate this card I first must send one card from my hand to the graveyard but here's where the differences start. First I destroy one spell card on my field!" Network Corruption burst into particles as Mammon continued to explain this cards effect "Then one of your facedowns is destroyed…I think the left will be my target!"

Colt's trap flipped face up and was shattered almost instantly.

"Finally since the card I sent to the graveyard was a monster card I get to destroy one of your monsters! This drone's annoyed me long enough!" The drone was ripped from the air and sent crashing back down to earth.

"Battle! Corruption Dragon! Attack Codecracker Signal Operator! Judgment of Corruption!" Corruption Dragon let loose a stream of black electrical jolts that smashed hard into Colt's monster obliterating it in the process.

Colt's LP: **4000 – 3200**

"Corruption Dragon's effect! When it destroys a monster it allows me to summon it to one of the zones my link monster points to," Out of a purple vortex Signal Operator appeared but this time it was drenched in sludge and had the occasional spasm. "Corruption Dragon gains attack points equal to the levels of the monsters linked it x200!"

Corruption Dragon ATK: **2400 – 3200**

"Do you want to know the best part Colt?" Mammon asked with a sly look on his face "I can use your own monster to attack you!"

"What!" Colt shouted.

"Signal Operator bend to my corrupted will! Attack your master directly!" The force and sheer ferocity of the strike launched Colt skidding across the roof on his back.

Colt's LP: **3200 – 1600**

"Can you still stand? I'd be deeply disheartened if we were unable to finish this match." Mammon said in mock sadness with Colt still laden to the ground.

When Colt didn't respond Mammon took matters into his own hands "Akutoku no Jajjimento! I activate the last card in my hand, the spell **Degradation of Corruption!** " The card showed purer versions of Corruption Dragon and multiple other monsters slowly decaying into a vat of black acid.

"This card deals you damage 600 points of damage for each monster in my field!" The card glowed a bright blue as it began to collate energy "This should shock you back into action!" The resulting strike fiercely electrocuted Colt's body as an ear splitting scream could be heard.

Colt's LP: **1600 – 400**

Colt began to stagger back onto equal footing with his clothes still smoking from the previous assault.

'Colt we're taking you out of there.' Came a voice in Colt's hidden earpiece 'You've sustained too much damage and we can't afford to lose you.'

The white haired hunter who was just barely conscious was far too weak to resist the will of his employers, he nodded having suffered what can only be considered abject defeat.

He began to glow a bright blue before vanishing right in front of the stunned Mammon. Handing the corruption duelist the victory but not the one he desired as he too logged out of Vrains.

 **(Real World)**

Sateriasis walked out of the access room incredibly pissed. He sat down at his desk banging his fist on the table furiously "Damn him! What a waste of time!"

There was a knock on his door and he begrudgingly dragged himself over to answer it. Opening it revealed none other than Allen.

"Sat we need to talk." He said matter-of-factly.

Sateriasis just looked at him with half open eyes before slamming the door on Allen's face.

"Sateriasis! Sateriasis!" Allen Shouted banging on the door "Open the damn door!" He punched the door unaware that the purple haired teen had relocked it and he wasn't having any effect.

' _Can't he mind his own business? I don't go round to his place and attempt to break his door down.'_

Meanwhile in another section of Den city a third party watched over a recording from the back of a hot dog truck.

"Wow. That was just brutal…" Said the owner who had purple hair as he rewatched Sateriasis' final stream of attacks on Colt "What do you think of this Mammon character, Yusaku?" He asked a teenage boy with fair skin, green eyes, and dark blue hair that spikes outward in the back and contains light blue bangs with pink accents.

He was wearing a slate-colored jacket with light blue trim over a white dress shirt with a blue tie and a pair of black trousers and black and white shoes.

"He's not Hanoi so he's none of my concern Shoichi."

"Figured you'd say that." Shoichi said switching the recording over to a screen showing all the information he had collected on Mammon.

"He may not be a member of Hanoi but he is certainly an affiliate of theirs, just take a look at his history." Mammon's collected history detailed the numerous jobs he had done for Hanoi in the past. "I have reason to believe he's currently under contract with them."

'What!' Cried Yusaku's A.I. 'That means he's after me!'

"Quiet!" Yusaku said sternly immediately silencing the A.I. "Shoichi what more do you have on him?"

"Sadly not much. He seems to have gone to great lengths to hide information about himself. However I've noticed his voice is very unusual as if he was using some sort of algorithm to hide his real voice possibly because he thinks it could lead people to figuring out who he is." Shoichi explained to the attentive Yusaku who thought over the implications.

' _What we know about Mammon. One he is clearly an ally of Hanoi, two he wishes to hide all information about himself and three he's evidently concerned about his voice if he has altered it.'_

"I'll keep an eye on him for you and call you if he makes a move." Shoichi said.

"Thanks." Yusaku replied.

 **(The next day)**

 ***Beep!* *Beep!***

The sound of Sateriasis' alarm clock roused him rather cantankerously from his sleep "dahhhhhhhhh!" He groaned as the alarm continued to blurt in his ears. He rose slumped over, searching for the snooze button "Why'd I even buy one in the first place…" After multiple attempts his hand finally silenced the alarm.

Dragging himself out of bed Sateriasis got dressed for school wearing the uniform of Den Academy.

 **(Time skip)**

"Now class!" The teacher began "We have a new student joining us today so please make him feel welcome!"

' _Great…I wonder what idiot they've dragged in.'_ Yusaku thought as he heard the footsteps of the new student reverberate through the class, his thoughts were still dominated by Hanoi and this Mammon character.

"Greetings. My name is Sateriasis Marlon. As you know already I'm just recently transferred here." Sateriasis made no attempt at eye contact with the other students and sounded like he was reading off a teleprompter.

"Thank you very much Sateriasis, please take a seat." Sateriasis bowed to the teacher then made his way to a spare seat in the same row as Yusaku.

"Returning to where we left off, does anyone know the significance of this name?" The teacher drew 'MAMMON' on the board.

Whispers began to float round the duelists in the class, which was nearly all of them. Following the footage that was captured of Sateriasis' duel with Colt his alter-ego of Mammon had gained widespread publicity.

"Anyone…?" The teacher looked around, finally his eyes found the hand of Sateriasis "Yes! Marlon!"

Sateriasis stood up "Mammon in demonology is considered to be one of the seven princes of hell as well as the patron demon for the deadly sin of greed. In Hebrew it can also just mean money." Sateriasis gave the same gesture he gave to Allen the day prior. His thumb and index finger shaped as a circle while holding his palm flat.

"Yes that is correct. You may sit down now Sateriasis."

Yusaku watched Sateriasis now regarding him with some suspicion _'Demon of greed…'_

After another thirty minutes or so Sateriasis had fallen asleep as a result of staying up practically all night searching for Colt's account.

"Hey." A green haired boy poked Sateriasis' head trying to wake him, however getting no response "Heyy." He did it again this time earning a half-hearted swat. "Hey!" He went to poke him again but this time Sateriasis was prepared and caught the green haired boy in his tracks.

"What!" The purple haired male said twisting the other boy's arm behind his back.

"Give! Give!" The boy cried as the teacher glared at the two of them forcing Sateriasis to release the arm.

"What do you want?" He whispered spitefully

"You're a duelist aren't you?" He said pointing towards Sateriasis' disk.

"Who are you?" Sateriasis said, desperate not to get involved with anyone.

"Well I suppose that's fine of you to ask considering you are only new here. I'm Nakoi Shima!" Nakoi said giving a smug smile and lifting his arm which had his duel disk attached to it. "Anything you'd like to say?"

"Not really." Sateriasis commented, with a distinct look of boredom on his face.

Nakoi shoved the disk closer into Sateriasis' face "Not even about this?"

"Wonderful. A duel disk. I have one too, what's so special about it?" Sateriasis said dismissively.

"It's not just any ordinary disk!" Nakoi retained his complete obliviousness to Sateriasis lack of caring "its SOL technologies' latest disk!" He looked in awe at his disk not noticing Sateriasis had gotten so bored he wasn't even listening anymore.

"This one has an A.I. that helps you during a duel!"

"People who need an A.I generally strike me as incompetent and weak." Sateriasis wouldn't look Nakoi in the eye as he lent back in the chair and twiddled his thumbs.

That commented flew so far over Nakoi's head it could be considered an airplane "I also get priority access to the VR network, Link VRAINS!" His pointed his disk towards Sateriasis' tablet and pushed a button causing several screens to pop up, each one showing a different duelist in VRAINS.

"Ever go there yourself?"

"Don't be stupid!" Nakoi exclaimed once again catching the teacher's attention reigning in the boy's enthusiasm.

'Stupid is a prohibited word.' The A.I. responded which amused Sateriasis as to why SOL would have a prohibited word function.

"It's a sacred gathering place for long-time duelists! Charisma Duelists go there too! It's not as easy as you might think!"

"Alright point taken." Sateriasis said peaking at his level of disinterest, his hand was the only thing that was keeping his head in place.

"But maybe one day in the future I'll go to link VRAINS and possibly meet Charisma Duelists." Nakoi said looking hopeful "Maybe even Playmaker!"

In the shock of hearing Playmaker's name, Sateriasis forgot about his arm being the only stabilizing factor. "Owww…" He said rubbing the point of impact.

"Playmaker you say?" He asked Nakoi slyly.

"Yeah! He's the hottest duelist right now," Nakoi explained "he fights the Knights of Hanoi, a group of hackers who commit crimes in link VRAINS!"

"Do you have any picture of Playmaker or any clue to his real life identity?" Sateriasis was curious, maybe if he found the real life Playmaker he wouldn't need to do it all himself, not that he had any problem with that.

"Of course not!" Nakoi said once again oblivious to Sateriasis' emotion "He's so cool because no one knows his identity. I want to become a duelist of justice just like Playmaker!" He shouted, striking a pose. However he spoke a little too loudly and for the third time was caught out by the teacher.

"You prat…" Sateriasis sneered under his breath.

"But there is one person I do worry about meeting…" Nakoi said, sweating a little.

"Oh? Who would that be?" Sateriasis asked knowingly.

"Mammon…" Nakoi etched out "He's just really scary…" Sateriasis inwardly laughed, not minding the reputation he had built for himself, welcoming it in fact.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's a bounty hunter who has absolutely no concern for who he harms, even those caught in the crossfire." Sateriasis didn't like the last part, never once had he injured someone other than his target.

"Hmmm. I see the issue you have with his methods but you don't know his motivation, maybe this is the only way for him. Is his identity known?" Sateriasis asked to see if his pro cautions were effective in disguising him.

"No. Just like Playmaker It's unknown who he is in real life. That's another thing that makes him so scary, he could be anyone!" Sateriasis was satisfied with the answer he had received but knew he stood no chance when faced with an experienced hacker.

"Suppose so, after all in the virtual world you don't know who is hiding behind that mask."

A thought occurred Nakoi just as Sateriasis thought he'd successfully shut down the conversation "Say! How about joining Duel Club?"

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm not interested in joining a silly little club." His second attempt to shoot down the conversation met with little success.

"But it's a great opportunity to socialize and make friends! Also it helps improve your skills, we're always looking for new members."

"When in a hole don't keep digging." Sateriasis followed it up by saying "In layman's terms that means zip it."

' _Layman's terms… Just like Mammon.'_ Numerous viewings of the recording and other clips of Mammon's duels that had surfaced, Yusaku had discovered Mammon had a distinct speech pattern much like his own.

"Oi! Zaizen, help me out here. I'm trying to get this guy to join us at the duel club, but he's being stubborn." Nakoi said to a girl sat not too far away.

"If he doesn't want to do it then don't force it upon him." She was a girl, with light brown hair in a bob-cut and yellow eyes "No one is going to join if they don't want to."

"But the president said we need new members! He's even got a relatively up to date disk!" The girl sighed as she turned round to face Sateriasis.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Aoi Zaizen." To Sateriasis she seemed far too timid "Would you like to join the Duel Club?"

"No, as stated before I'm not interested in a waste of my time."

"There you go Shima, he doesn't have any interest in joining." Sateriasis mentally praised the girl for how blunt to the point attitude and for getting Nakoi off his back or so he thought.

"Am I seriously the only one here who takes duel club seriously?" Nakoi wondered aloud before talking to what Sateriasis hoped for the final time "Look you don't have to join, just consider it, right? Personally I just think people shouldn't spend their time alone…"

Sateriasis seemed to be struck at the very core by that last part. _'Sateriasis no man is an island, sooner rather than later you're going to have to branch out, I can't always be there, without proper support a building cannot sustain itself.'_

"Actually…Nakoi was it? Upon further consideration, I will join the club might do me good." This was the conversation snapper since it was apparently enough to nullify Nakoi as he returned to his seat.

 **(Time skip)**

Sateriasis dressed in his casual attire walked solemnly through Den city with only one thought on his mind as he passed by a sign that said 'Hospital'

He staggered sluggishly through the entrance and up to the reception where he was greeted by a smiling face behind the desk. "Hi there Sateriasis!" He was greeted happily, "Is this the usual?" Sateriasis nodded glumly, not wishing to speak.

"I see…" He was then handed a card "You know the room number well enough by now there's no point in me saying."

Sateriasis turned off, walking down the corridor to the only room he was concerned about, no one else mattered to him.

He opened the door, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down beside the medium sized hospital bed that contained on it a teenage girl with medium length lime green hair.

"Hey there, it's me again," Sateriasis' voice for once had some degree of emotion in it "you must be getting annoyed by how often I come." He laughed to himself.

"But I've got big news for the two of us," Sateriasis had brought the envelope he had received the previous day "my employer just handed me a huge payday and I intend do my upmost to help them. But I never forget who I'm doing this for in the first place."

Tears swelled ever so slightly in the hunter's eyes as he lent on the bed "I can never forgive myself for what happened, it's all my fault you are in here and I'm going to fix it, no matter what I have to do."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Mammon's Court**

"Master Revolver are you sure it's wise to trust Mammon?" In a hidden corner of the digital world two people debated the loyalty of their most trusted affiliate. The one who was currently talking had grey hair, light blue eyes and wore a white suit along with white shoes.

"Yes, Spectre, he's never failed us before and I don't see any reason why he won't be able to assist us in our quest." Revolver had tanned skill, yellow eyes, and black hair highlighted with orange and red. He wore a mask made of yellow glass and a white casing with four white dots centred on his forehead. His clothes were, a white jumpsuit, trench coat, gloves, and black boots.

"But Sir, he could double cross us at any moment!" Spectre said.

"There are three reasons why he won't do that Spectre. One: He holds the cyber world responsible for the current condition of the only person he ever held dear, his sister who's comatose in hospital. Two: We are his main benefactor that provide him with the very money he needs to help improve his sister's condition, he's a logical person so he knows better than to betray us. Three: As pre mentioned his record with us is 100% I've got no concerns that he will fail."

Spectre was still unsure but decided against further questioning "Alright sir if you trust him then I've got no qualms."

* * *

Sateriasis still hadn't left the side of the hospital bed that contained his unconscious sister, he passed the time talking aloud in the hope that she would hear him and singing his personal favourite song.

"If I want to see all of my deep desires come true then swing yes, I must with my hammer of unjust for you…" He sung softly, hugging his sister's body with the upmost care he could.

His eyes went down to the envelope that was currently sat on his lap, "I'll leave this with you, my employer's been very generous in allowing to take the payment now." Sateriasis stood up and left the envelope on his chair "I have to leave now it's getting late, don't worry I'll be back again tomorrow." He slowly left the room with an evident look of sadness plastered on his face.

He continued out to the foyer not making eye contact nor speaking to anyone that he happened to come across.

 **(The next day)**

Sateriasis sat in the dark behind his desk with only the computer illuminating the room. On the screen was a flowing stream of code that was indecipherable to the untrained eye. As Sateriasis continued the code began to warp more and more before finally becoming fully corrupted, potentially devastating virus. He then copied the code onto his disk, deleting any remnants of it from his computer.

"That's the last time I ever do that…" Sateriasis promptly collapsed passed out from prolonged periods without sleep.

 ***Beep!* *Beep!***

"Jesus Christ!" Sateriasis had been asleep for roughly 3.8 seconds when his alarm clock startled him awake.

"I'll sleep it off in class, hopefully no one will notice." He muttered groggily whilst getting dressed.

* * *

True to his word as soon as Sateriasis made contact with his seat he buckled over totally down for the count and come hell or high water it would take a mammoth effort to wake him.

Sat not too far away from the sleeping Sateriasis, Naoki was watching what appeared to be a live broadcast from Link VRAINS, right beside Naoki was Yusaku who was on the verge of sleep himself only to be halted from doing so by Naoki's obsessive fanboying.

"Hey! Hey! Did you watch Playmaker's duel against that Knight of Hanoi?!"

"No." Yusaku said bluntly.

"And you call yourself a duelist." Yusaku didn't reply leading Naoki to continue.

"I was there watching! It was really inspiring! Playmaker's so cool!" Naoki said this loud enough to slightly stir the virtually dead to the world Sateriasis, enough for him to mutter "Shut up you twat…"

Then Naoki noticed something missing from Yusaku's person "Where's your disk?"

"I left at home. It is house sitting." Yusaku said dismissively.

"Do they have house sitting functions?" Naoki wondered aloud "Anyways, I keep watching live footage of link VRAINS so that I can't miss when Playmaker shows u-" Nakoi's sudden pause caught Yusaku's attention.

"That's Hanoi!" Naoki shouted at nearly full capacity, almost like a foghorn, making Sateriasis' face cringe.

"What is it? I was just explaining the tower of Hanoi…" The teacher said, unsure of what had caused Naoki's outburst.

"Hanoi! It's a knight of Hanoi!" He held out his tablet and sure enough riding a D-board was the Knight of Hanoi in question issuing his challenge to Playmaker.

"Look!" He went to show it to Yusaku but he had vanished without a trace leaving Naoki talking to himself. Everyone else was either in a state of confusion or shock, so they too didn't see Yusaku depart.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Naoki spied Sateriasis nearby and went to tell him about the Knight. "Hey Marlon…" He shook Sateriasis who in turn muttered again, now half-awake "Get off me…" Naoki didn't get the idea and shook him again fully awaking the sleeping beast.

"What is it?!" Sateriasis said displeased his formerly peaceful sleep had been disrupted.

Naoki then showed Sateriasis his tablet, the hunter's face turned quickly from one of intense anger into one of intense thought. "It's one of the Knights of Hanoi, Y'know the group I told you about the other day."

' _Something about this just doesn't sit right…'_ Sateriasis brought a finger to his chin _'If this is a proper knight Revolver evidently doesn't trust me but I know for a fact that he does, so that only leaves the possibility that this is an imposter.'_

"So what do you think?" Naokki asked earnestly.

"I think it's best if you just observe and not make any rash judgments." Sateriasis switched the screen on his own tablet to that of live footage of Link VRAINS

As soon as he had tuned in to watch, he gazed upon the two individuals and let out a small inward laugh, one of them was indeed Playmaker but the other one was a bulky male that Sateriasis knew all too well _'Go_ _Onizuka, I wonder who gave you that disguise.'_

He had joined just before Go started his turn, Go began by summoning two of his Gouki monsters, Suprex and Twistcobra to the field before passing his turn.

' _You've got no chance if you think that outdated mess of a plan holds any water.'_ Sateriasis thought, mocking Go's style of dueling harshly.

Playmaker took his turn and summoned a new monster, Linkslayer, to go alongside Cyberse Wizard. He uses the latter's effect and targeted Gouki Suprex with it, changing it to defence mode and giving all Cyberse-type monsters piercing effect, at the cost of only being able to attack Gouki Suprex.

Playmaker used Linkslayer to attack Suprex and sliced Go's LP in half with a single attack Impressing the hunter greatly.

' _You astound me more and more Playmaker. I look forward to testing myself against you.'_

After several seconds of silence where all that could be heard was the rush of the wind, Go activated his Skill, Fighting Spirit, reviving all destroyed Gouki monsters. He then proceeded with starting his turn and summoned a third Gouki monster, Riscorpio. He then used the three he'd gathered monsters to Link summon his ace monster: Gouki the Great Ogre.

' _People say they sometimes see themselves in their monsters, I concur, Go fits that profile.'_

The effects of Gouki monsters sent to the graveyard then activated, allowing Go add three new Gouki cards from his deck to his hand. He used them right away to power up his Great Ogre's ATK up to 5700 and gather two monsters, Twistcobra and Headbatt.

' _You're in trouble Playmaker, one wrong move and you're done for, show me why Revolver deems you a threat!'_

Since the ATK of Playmaker's monsters dropped by a huge amount thanks to the effect of Great Ogre, it seemed as he was going to lose with one hit, but Playmaker activated his Trap Card, Cyberse Shutter which nullified the gained boost thanks to Headbatt.

' _Misplay! Game Over!'_ Sateriasis became certain that Playmaker was about to meet his end in Go's next turn if he didn't make a miraculous comeback.

However before Playmaker could start his turn, an emergency exit appeared. _'What the hell?!'_ Sateriasis shouted in his mind, he cursed the person that created the exit and expected his target to slip away but much to his shock as well the others watching the duel, Playmaker ignored the doorway out.

"There are three reasons why I'm continuing with this duel!" Playmaker exclaimed beginning his explanation.

' _Three reasons…Just like Revolver does…Just like_ _Gumina did.'_ Sateriasis' usually calculated, emotionless demeanor faltered as he began to think of his two closest relationships, Revolver was probably the only person he was even relatively cordial with more so than Allen and his dear sister Gumina the one he fought for.

After making his explanation, Playmaker used something that Sateriasis was unware that he had, Playmaker's skill, Storm Access allowing him to access a never before seen link monster when his life points went below the 1000 mark. _'Using the opponent's strength to your advantage, you're crafty Playmaker, I'll make sure to look out for that.'_

During his next turn and after consecutive Link Summons, he gathered the winning team for today's Duel. Using Link Bumper's effect, he made Decode Talker attack consecutive time while Honeybot protected his monsters. After destroyed Gouki the Great Ogre, thanks to the effect of Cyberse Annihilation, he inflicted 2600 damage to Go wiping away the latter's LP.

' _Playmaker…You were involved in that incident as well…'_ Sateriasis switched his tablet off as Nakoi went to speak to him.

"Did you watch the duel?" Naoki didn't even wait for Sateriasis to answer before opening his mouth again "That's why Playmaker is so cool! Even when pinned in a corner he wins! It's just incredible!"

"As a matter of fact I did watch it and I admit it was an impressive comeback." Sateriasis said rather dismissively of the whole situation. While watching the duel had provided valuable information about how Playmaker dueled, he wasn't the least bit interested in discussing it with Naoki whom he was already mentally labelling a fanboy.

"Come on show a bit of enthusiasm, you're almost as bad Fujiki!"

"Fujiki?" Sateriasis inquired.

"You don't know him?" Sateriasis nodded.

"How?! He practically sits right next to you!" Naoki said surprised at Sateriasis' obliviousness

"Guess I didn't notice him." Sateriasis shrugged with a blasé tone.

"Anyway…" Naoki shifted the topic "Don't forget to come to duel club today!"

Sateriasis groaned, before dismissively waving Naoki off with his right hand "Yeah, yeah I won't." However in his disdain for the situation, he let something slip. Something Naoki noticed immediately.

"What's that?" Naoki pointed towards something blue imprinted on Sateriasis' palm.

Alarmed, Sateriasis shoved the hand in his pocket "Nothing!"

"Really? It sure looked like something." Naoki inquired, not letting the uncomfortable Sateriasis shut down the conversation.

"Yes! Can't you mind your own damn business?!" Sateriasis' discomfort turned to outright ire.

"Sorry. I was just curious that's all." Naoki relented causing Sateriasis to recompose himself.

"That's fine, just don't mention it again." Once he was certain Naoki wasn't going to bother him, Sateriasis took his right hand out again, hiding it so no one else could see. He sat there the rest of the time until duel club, just thinking.

By the time he had arrived all the other members of the club were there. Naoki and Aoi were the only two with whom he'd any form of contact with. The one who approached had glasses and black hair swept to the right, "Are you here to join?" He asked hopefully.

"I am indeed. I'm freshman Sateriasis Marlon." Sateriasis said bowing, making sure as hell no one else noticed his mark.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hosoda, Club president." Hosoda said, happy for the new member.

"I'm Tanaka, second-year," a short boy with red hair pulled back into a ponytail said.

"I'm also second year. Sato," a boy even fatter than Naoki with slicked back teal hair and spectacles said.

"I'm freshman Suzuki," a tall boy with brown hair in a bowl cut said.

"I'm freshman Zaizen," Aoi said as if she'd not spoken to Sateriasis the other day. Granted he'd said roughly four words to her so it was probably safe to assume that she'd thought he'd forgotten her name.

"Anyone see Playmaker's duel today? Or yesterday?" Naoki said embracing his fanboy side again.

"Yeah. He did a really good in his comeback against Go and the monster he summoned to defeat that knight of Hanoi was really cool!" Sato said "What was its name again?"

"Decode Talker." Aoi answered bluntly.

"Playmaker really stepped up his game, that monster's so cool and powerful!" Naoki said with stars in his eyes "It might even be stronger than Mammon's ace!"

' _Only over my dead body is that card stronger than Corruption Dragon.'_ Sateriasis thought secretly seething with rage at Nakoi even suggesting that any card was stronger than Corruption Dragon.

"I don't believe your taking all of Corruption Dragon's effects into account." Aoi said.

"Well, which one do you think is better president?" Naoki asked.

"Both of them have very similar effects and are on a similar power level, so it's hard to decide which one is stronger." Hosoda said.

"I have to agree with Shima on this one." Sato said.

"Me too, Decode Talker just looks better." Tanaka added much to the growing annoyance of Sateriasis _'Looks better? You idiot, since when were the best cards in particular the most powerful.'_

"I disagree, Corruption Dragon is the more potent of the two." Suzuki's comment made the hunter smirk slightly.

"It's just you two now, Zaizen and Marlon which do you think is the better card?"

Sateriasis spoke first "Personally I haven't seen Corruption Dragon and have only briefly seen Decode Talker, so I'm not really in a position to comment on which one is the most powerful."

"Zaizen?"

"It's hard to pick since they both have their pros and cons. Decode Talker can only gain attack if there is a monster linked to it, if there isn't it remains a 2300 attack point monster. On the other hand Corruption Dragon starts off slightly stronger but just like Decode Talker it requires the presence of another monster to unleash its full power." Aoi explained all the while looking at Sateriasis who was giving off a strange aura.

If she was to believe his words then he was just another ordinary person, however she felt something unsettling about him, like there was another side to him he was hiding.

"I'd say it would be a tie if they were to battle."

"Then that makes it 3 to 1. Decode Talker wins!" Hosoda declared. "Now if we're done comparing cards let's start with the meeting."

A few minutes later Aoi approached Sateriasis who was sitting by himself staring at the roof.

"Ahem…" Clearing her throat to catch his attention "I was just wondering Marlon if you could tell me about your deck?"

She expected him to be very uptight and defensive and to a certain extent he was "Why? I mean I don't see any issue with it, I'm just wondering why you're interested in it."

"Just curious."

"Fine." Sateriasis reached into his right jacket pocket and slid out a deck, handing it over to Aoi "The deck's a family heirloom, it's been passed down from father to son." Sateriasis equivocated, this deck was a fake but the real one was a hand-me-down.

The deck while it was fake, certainly was not weak or poorly built, after years of scavenging for deals and 'shrewd business' Sateriasis had amassed a collection of powerful cards.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Naoki asked leaning over Sateriasis' shoulder, intruding on the half conversation half interrogation. His eyes widened when he saw some of the dummy deck's cards.

"Where'd you get those?!" He swiped it from Aoi and fanned it out.

"For your consideration, my father owned these cards when he was around, upon his passing they were transferred into my possession."

"Your father must've been some big shot at SOL or something because these cards are amazing." Naoki said in growing amazement at every card he saw pass.

Suddenly Aoi gasped catching both of the boys' attention, "Any reason why you did that?" Sateriasis asked.

"Sorry, I just remembered something…" She apologized. ' _I need to ask brother for conformation.'_

* * *

"Time to test my might." Sateriasis muttered as he made the final preparations for the up and coming bout against his target. _'Everything has to go smoothly, let's see…'_ Sateriasis went through his mental checklist _'D-Board…Check, deck…Check, now all that's left is to issue the challenge.'_ Sateriasis' face transformed into the crazed look of Mammon _'And I know just how to do it…'_

Mammon surfed on his own D-Board that had been gifted to him as a reward for previous jobs. It was effectively the same as the ones used by the Knights of Hanoi that was white, had purple gems and a green semi-circle.

"You rolling?" He asked the petrified pigeon which flew beside him, who gulped and nodded "Great! Playmaker, the time has come for us to duel!"

The people outside of VRAINS gathered in the city centre, around the screens in a mixture of disbelief and anticipation.

"I know you'll be hesitant to face me but I've got news for you!" People began to murmur about what Mammon meant by this.

"Currently in my possession is a virus of my own making and if you don't show yourself I'll release it upon the entire system, corrupting it in a matter of seconds!" This stunning revelation shocked everyone in the surrounding area excluding the person who this threat was directed to, who watched on alongside Shoichi.

"Yusaku, he means business." Shoichi commented as Mammon began to issue the final part of his challenge speech.

"Now the choice is up to you Playmaker, either you face me in the field of battle or you run with your tail between your legs and allow all of Link VRAINS to be destroyed! You've got three minutes to decide! Now make your choice!"

"The infamous Mammon has issued one hell of a challenge to Playmaker!" The MC announced to the crowd who were still recovering from the shock. "If he fails to show then all of link VRAINS will fall victim to Mammon's deadly virus!"

"Come on Playmaker!" Someone from the crowd shouted in the hope the hero would hear the cry.

The cry was picked up by someone else and pretty soon almost everyone was chanting "Playmaker!" Everyone except the black haired acquaintance of Sateriasis who was busy mumbling into his hand. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Back in VRAINS Mammon continued wait whilst getting his feet re accustomed to the D-Board, spending too much time doing master duels had left him rusty. _'Playmaker, I know you can't hear my thoughts but I really wish you show up, I need to talk to you about that incident.'_ Feeling comfortable enough in his grip Mammon jumped to the nearest building and glided in as the time limit he'd set continued to dwindle

It was then with less than a minute left, a portal appeared and out of it, Playmaker landed, on the same building with a look of steely determination and undaunted mettle.

"The hero of VRAINS finally shows!" Mammon wouldn't dare let his true emotions be known and continued to camouflage himself behind the mask of insanity. "I take it that you're here to duel."

"Yes I accept your challenge." Playmaker said coolly "Stop your virus."

"Say no more…" Mammon deactivated the virus much to the salvation of Playmaker's AI.

'Oh thank you Playmaker! I thought for sure I was done for! Now let's beat this lunatic!' The Ai's over bloated statement caused Mammon to turn his attention to the eye.

"If it isn't the Ai that's got everyone whipped into a frenzy," Mammon said smirking "Revolver would be most pleased if I not only destroy Playmaker but also retrieve you."

The eye cowered in fear and retreated deep into Playmaker's disk _'He is with Hanoi.'_ Playmaker now became even more determined to defeat the crazed Mammon.

"Now if there's no issues…" Mammon lifted off from the building, touching down on his board hard "Let's begin!" Playmaker's board came into position behind Mammon's and he too landed on his board beginning the Speed duel.

Watching on with interest was Revolver who was flanked by Spectre to his left, to his right was is a tall man, who had fair skin. He had black and grey hair and mustache, and yellow eyes. He wore a white coat with red outlines, a dark undershirt with red stripe, some black trousers and a pair of brown shoes.

"Time to see just how strong Playmaker really is…" Revolver commented.

* * *

Mammon: 4000 LP Playmaker: 4000 LP Cards x4

 **Turn 1**

"He who strikes first wins!" Mammon took the first turn as his hand appeared before him, he mapped out the multiple possibilities mentally "To begin I set one monster facedown and place another card one facedown in the Spell/Trap zone, that'll be all for now." The timidity of the hunter's first turn came as a surprise to many of the people watching. But his associates knew his plan well.

"He's using that strategy." Allen commented with a grin to rival Mammon's.

Revolver too recognised the true power of the seemingly weak opening move "Welcome to Mammon's court, Playmaker."

Mammon's cards x2

 **Turn 2**

"My turn, I draw! To start I summon Cyberse Wizard!" A young man in a cybernetic wizard outfit appeared.

 _Cyberse Wizard: LVL 4, LIGHT, CYBERSE (_ _ **1800**_ _/800)_

"You seem to have an affinity for that monster the amount of times you've used it." Playmaker played no heed to Mammon's remark as he continued on with his turn.

"Since there's no main phase 2 I'll place one card facedown then I attack your facedown monster with Cyberse Wizard!" The wizard charged at the facedown monster, flipping it face up, showing it to be a demented green imp that had black markings all over its body.

"The monster you just destroyed was the level 4 **Corruption Ritual Imp**! When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, the monster that vanquished it loses 1000 attack points." Out of the purple vortex CRI materialised and latched onto the back Cyberse Wizard, visibly draining the monster's power.

Wizard's ATK: **1800 – 800**

"At the end of your turn I activate my continuous trap **Endless Corruption!** " The card depicted CRI falling into a pit while in the background Corruption Dragon could be seen lying in wait. "At the end of a turn where a monster of mine was destroyed by battle I can add one monster from my deck to hand that has the same level as the destroyed one." He choose his card quickly as it became his turn.

Playmaker's Cards x2

 **Turn 3**

"I draw! I summon Paladin of Corruption." The half pure knight gave a quick slash as he came into position.

 _Paladin of Corruption_ _Level 4, FIEND, Dark_ ( **1600** /1200)

"Now I activate his effect! By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I can deal you damage equal to half my monster's attack points!" Mammon turned as Paladin of Corruption's sword began to charge with black energy "In layman's terms that's 800 points of damage!" Playmaker was struck violently by Paladin, nearly knocking him off his board.

Playmaker's LP: **4000 – 3200**

"Unfortunately this card can't attack the turn it activates this effect but that means nothing! Since there's a corruption monster on my field that has 2000 or less attack points I can summon Corruption Gear."

 _Corruption gear Level 2, FIEND, Dark (0/_ **1000** _)_

"Appear the corrupted circuit that destroys all. Arrowheads confirmed, the summoning conditions are two level 4 or lower Corruption monsters, I set Paladin of Corruption and Corruption Gear in the link markers. Circuit combine! Link 2! **Corruption Necromancer!** "

Corruption Necromancer was a cloaked figure that seemed to be chanting something under its breath, it held a black book that had multiple symbols on it. Underneath the cloak it also had unnatural glowing red eyes.

 _Corruption Necromancer, Link 2, FIEND, DARK (_ _ **1600**_ _)_ _ **Markers:**_ _ **Bottom, Top**_

'That monster's really creepy! Suits the maniac if you ask me!' AI had regained enough bravado to make his presence known.

"I activate Necromancer's effect. By paying 500 life points I can summon back one corruption monster from my graveyard but it is prevented from attacking for this turn." Necromancer began to open the graveyard portal and ascending from the depths came "Corruption Gear return to the field."

Mammon's LP: **4000 – 3500**

"Appear once again the corrupted circuit that destroys all. Arrowheads confirmed. I set Corruption Gear and Corruption Necromancer in the link markers. Circuit combine! Descend now, Link 3 Essence of Greed – Corruption Dragon!"

The huge dragon appeared with a thunderous clap of its wings and a deafening screech.

 _Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon Link 3, Dragon, Dark,_ ( **2400** ) **Markers: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right**.

' _It's that card again.'_ Playmaker recognised Mammon's ace in an instant but kept himself composed for the task ahead, AI on the other hand wasn't handling it quite as well.

'AHH! What is that abomination?!' AI exclaimed in unadulterated fear.

Mammon didn't care much for the AI's opinion, continuing on with his turn "To follow, I set one card facedown then Corruption Dragon will attack Cyberse Wizard. Judgment of Corruption."

"Trap activate! Three Strikes Barrier!" Playmaker shouted "When you control exactly three cards on your field I can choose one of three effects! I can either prevent the destruction of my monster, nullify the battle damage I'll receive or I can gain life points equal to the damage my monsters will deal. In this case I choose to prevent my monster from being destroyed!" The resulting shields blocked Cyberse Wizard but the damage was still felt by Playmaker.

Playmaker's LP: **3200 – 1600**

' _He's getting dangerously close to below 1000 life points, the next move is critical.'_ Mammon thought.

Mammon's Cards x1

 **Turn 4**

' _I'll destroy Hanoi and anyone related to them. This duel ends this turn.'_ Playmaker thought as he drew his card for the turn. "To begin, I normal summon Stack Reviver!" A small robot appeared.

 _Stack Reviver_ , _Level 2, Cyberse, DARK, (_ _ **100**_ _/600)_

"Since I already control a cyberse monster I can special summon Backup Secretary!"

 _Backup Secretary_ , _Level 3, Cyberse, LIGHT, (1200/_ _ **800**_ _)_

"Appear! The circuit that leads to the future." A circuit appeared in front of Playmaker, "Arrowheads, confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least 2 or more effect monsters! I set Stack Reviver, Cyberse Wizard, and Backup Secretary in the Link Markers!" Playmaker's three Cyberse monsters flew toward the top, bottom-left, and bottom-right markers, glowing red. "Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3! Decode Talker!"

Digital data started pulling themselves together as they materialized into a warrior with blue armour and purple outlines along with a sword. The warrior let out a battle cry as it broke the Link Gate.

 _Decode Talker, Link 3, DARK, Cyberse (_ _ **2300**_ _)_ _ **Markers: Top, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.**_

"Decode Talker," Mammon said looking at Playmaker's ace "it certainly looks impressive but I need evidence that it lives up to that tag."

"I activate the effect of Stack Reviver from the graveyard, since it was sent there as material for a link summon I can revive one level 4 or lower cyberse monster. I resurrect Backup Secretary in defence mode!" Said monster came back into being.

"Decode Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster linked to it, so far the only monster linked to it is my Backup Secretary. Power Integration!"

Decode Talker ATK: **2300 – 2800**

"Battle! Decode Talker attack Corruption Dragon! Decode End!"

Decode swung at Corruption Dragon, tearing through the dragon's armour and obliterating the massive beast but leaving behind a residue of energy.

Mammon's LP: **3500 – 3100**

"Trap activate. **Reflected Corruption!** " Mammon's new trap showed one of his monsters holding up a mirror "Since you destroyed Corruption Dragon I can activate this card and with it I can deal you damage equivalent to what I just took. Layman's terms dictates that'd be 400." The leftover energy was sucked into the card, before then blasting out.

Playmaker's LP: **1600 – 1200**

"I'm not done yet either. I activate my skill **Life Corruption!** Once per duel, I deal my opponent 200 points of damage for each corruption monster in my graveyard! Corruption Ritual Imp, Corruption Necromancer, Corruption Dragon, Paladin of corruption, Corruption Gear are the ones that currently occupy it. That's 1000 points." Playmaker was enveloped by a purple aura as his life points decreased further.

Playmaker's LP: **1200 - 200**

'Playmaker! You're on thin ice now!' AI shouted at his captor, scared at what may happen if Playmaker were to lose.

"Calm down. I'm not going to lose." Playmaker said sternly.

"I activate **Cyberse Beat down!** By paying half my life points I can activate this card during the battle phase of a turn when a Cyberse monster has successfully destroyed another monster via battle! The monster gains an attack boost of 500 and gets to attack again!"

Mammon was just as determined in his conviction "No way! No way! No way! I too activate the last card in my hand. When I'm the recipient of a direct attack I can activate the effect of **Corruption Distributer!** By sending this monster from my hand to the graveyard we both receive the same amount of damage." The monster appeared just before Decode Talker was able to land the finishing blow.

"If I'm going down, I'll take you with me!" The creature was annihilated and the resulting blast tore Mammon from his board, forcing him to activate a black energy whip to prevent contact from the ground below, landing on a nearby roof.

Playmaker's LP: **100 – 0**

Mammon's LP: **3100 – 0**

 **Draw!**

* * *

"Who would've thought Playmaker to have been such a dark horse?" Revolver commented now certain of what he had to do.

Allen mumbled into his hand again "You got lucky Sat and you know it."

"A draw…" Shoichi muttered with a sigh of relief "You had me worried Yusaku."

Playmaker landed on the same roof, his eyes filled with pure hatred.

"Congratulations Playmaker, you managed to force my hand and for that you must be skilled." Mammon said, ignoring the look he was getting. "Before you leave allow me to ask you one question."

'Why should we listen to you?!' AI said angrily.

"Shut it." Playmaker said harshly. "I'll allow it."

"Why do you fight the knights of Hanoi? What have you to gain from doing so?"

Playmaker thought for a moment before answering "I fight because I have reason to believe they had a hand in an incident I was involved years ago, I fight to discover the secrets of my past."

"Think of three things." Mammon held three fingers up "Three things to live. Three things to go home. Three things to defeat the enemy. By thinking you can still live. Sound familiar?"

Playmaker stayed silent so Mammon continued "If you want to know, someone close to me was involved in that incident as well, they told me about the person that 'saved' them by talking about that rule of three. She said she wished to speak to that person again and to see if they were still in captivity there and if so save them."

"Let me ask you a question then. Why are you fighting for Hanoi?" Playmaker's question caught Mammon out of the blue.

"Why should I?"

'Because we answered yours!'

"I don't take orders from an AI! They're a plague that needs to be eliminated." Mammon snapped back "However I will answer a question from a real person. The reason I ally myself with Hanoi is very simple really. Money makes the mare go. In layman's terms I'll do anything if paid well enough. " Mammon's previously insane look returned in full force.

The two stared at each other for a while, until eventually Mammon decided he had enough waiting around for a reply. "If you think you can fight the Knights of Hanoi by yourself you're insane. This isn't over yet, I'll return and when I do the outcome will be different." Mammon then teleported away leaving Playmaker by himself.

'Thank god we finally got rid of that creep for good! He was starting get on my nerves anyway.'

"Don't be certain. Just as he said, he's coming back." Playmaker then logged out of VRAINS.

However listening in on this conversation was an attentive Colt _'Just as I suspected.'_ He then removed his mask revealing not only his steel grey eyes but also a tattoo of a green flame on his forehead _'Mammon I don't agree with how you're going about this but I promise to make the people responsible repent for what they did to us.'_ He too left with priceless information on Mammon to give to SOL upon his return.

 **(Hanoi Base)**

Mammon materialized in the cybernetic Hanoi base, in total abject dismay almost at the state of tears "I'm such a failure…I failed Revolver…I failed Gumina…"

"You haven't failed just yet Mammon." Said Revolver appearing alongside Spectre.

"What do you mean? I failed in my task. Playmaker survived." Mammon just couldn't understand the leader's reasoning.

"You've shown that Playmaker isn't invincible, that he can be dealt with in one way or another." Spectre said whilst Mammon still tried to wrap his head around this.

"We may not have won the battle this time but this is a long term business there will be more to come and it is inevitable we'll prevail for three reasons. One: Playmaker works alone, he hasn't the ability to keep this level of work. Two: It is certain that SOL is also looking for that AI, without a doubt they will send one of their lackeys after Playmaker leaving fight a two fronted assault. Three: As Spectre said your duel has shown me the way forward." Revolver explained to the hunter.

"I understand what you're saying, although I will still consider this a failure." Mammon didn't wait for the response before logging out.

* * *

The real world Colt walked to meet with his current employer. Colt was 6ft flat, his electric light blue hair was comparably as long as Sateriasis' if not just slightly shorter. Just as his VRAINS avatar the green flame tattoo was imprinted on the centre of his forehead. He was wearing a red V-Neck shirt underneath a grey suit jacket, with brown trousers and black combat boots. He like Sateriasis and Allen was sixteen years old.

"Zaizen," Colt spoke to his boss, the current Security Manager of SOL, Akira Zaizen step-brother to Aoi. Akira was a fair skinned young man of twenty-six with blue and teal hair and pink eyes. He wore a suit which consisted of a blue coat with a darker one underneath, a white shirt, and a black tie. He also sported blue trousers and black shoes. "I assume you watched the Mammon and Playmaker spat."

"That's right." Akira conducted himself in a very typical business-like manner "Two of the system's biggest rouges facing each other."

"I wanted to say that I believe two things now. One, in my opinion Playmaker must be dealt with as soon as possible."

"Agreed. What was your other point?"

"My second point was that, there may be more to Mammon than meets the eye."

Akira seemed stunned that Colt even suggested there was another side to Mammon "What on earth do you mean?"

Colt pointed to his tattoo "Are you aware of something called the Inferno Project?"

* * *

"Gumina I'm so sorry…" After logging out of the digital world, Sateriasis immediately left for the hospital. "I wasn't thinking clearly and let my judgment be clouded." He sat with his eyes closed only exposing himself to the sound of the real world.

He heard the door to the room open turning around he saw that in the doorway stood a tall young, fair skinned teen with black spiky hair. On his right hand, he had a tattoo in the shape of a mirror that was a bright yellow in colour he was wearing a yellow shirt underneath a white suit jacket, with black trousers and black trainers.

"Sateriasis." Allen spoke out to his friend.

"What do you want Allen?" Sateriasis wasn't interested in speaking to anyone refusing to even open his eyes as Allen pulled up another seat.

"I saw your duel with Playmaker and decided it was necessary to talk with the demon of greed. _Avaritia_ himself." Allen said keeping his voice low but it still had a distinct hint of pride in it.

"Don't call me that _Superbia_." Sateriasis snapped putting heavy emphasize on the last word.

"Alright. I won't. However I still want to talk about that Playmaker duel."

"I wasn't thinking clearly alright! I had other things on my mind." Sateriasis admitted "I got lucky that I even had that card in my hand to begin with." When he heard Allen fail to stifle a laugh Sateriasis' eyes shot open "At least I haven't got my head wedged up my ass and actually have the ability to admit when I'm wrong!"

Allen remained silent, shooting Sateriasis a dirty look. In response Sateriasis showed Allen the palm of his right hand. Fulling showing off to Allen what Nakoi had noticed earlier on. "All of us bear the marking of our vices. Mine represents excessive greed and avarice. Yours, a mirror for self-confidence and extreme hubris."

Allen fidgeted in response "Alright Sat. Point taken."

"The last promise I ever made to my father was to take care of and protect Gumina from harm but as you can see I failed."

* * *

 **A/N: I want to thank the people who have reviewed/favorited this story, I honestly expected this to crash and burn horribly. So your thoughts on this chapter will be of great help to me.**

 **The next chapter will deal with some of Sateriasis' past, mainly the relationship with his father and the reason for his inherent protectiveness of his sister.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A dance with Pride**

"That's right your charges are under my discretion, Akutoku no Jajjimento." Sateriasis sung into himself as he made his way to school for the day. To anyone that viewed him it was clear that he wasn't exactly in the best state. Sleep was still a major issue for the hunter with him not having a decent sleep in days. The tally was currently at roughly 10 minutes over three days.

"I will not let anyone judge me for what is my sin even if judgment is never given." Sateriasis wasn't particularly looking forward to going to school today, mainly he hated having to contend with Naoki's annoying fanboying over Playmaker and no doubt would he hear about how Playmaker nearly beat Mammon. The other issue was the strange case of Aoi, she suddenly took a great interest in him yesterday and her reaction to Naoki's comment about his father didn't do his suspicion any favours.

As he reached the gates, someone else approached at a crossroads "Good morning Marlon." Aoi said not giving a lick of emotion whatsoever.

"Good morning to you too Zaizen. What do you want?" He said somewhat groggily as he still wasn't fully awake, both of them walked in side by side.

"I just you to answer a few questions of mine." Aoi said bluntly.

"Sure. Just keep it simple, my brain's not functioning properly at the moment." Sateriasis even had trouble processing that sentence.

"Alright. Why did you want to join Duel club?"

"I didn't want to. That Naoki guy basically guilt tripped me into joining." Sateriasis made no attempt to divulge further the reason for why he joined.

"Interesting. That wasn't the answer I was expecting." Sateriasis was stunned by the sheer bluntness of Aoi's statements.

"What did you expect me to say? I turned down the chance to join it three times I wouldn't particularly call that enthusiasm incarnate."

"I expected you mention my brother." Aoi said somewhat spitefully, offending Sateriasis for being so judgmental and assuming things.

"Oh that's what you mean." Sateriasis mentally kicked himself for not recognising it sooner "You're related to Akira Zaizen, the current security manager of SOL. But to assume that he was the reason I joined is a foolish notion."

"I assume that because that's why others approach me or join the club 'Can I have the new duel disk?' 'Can I get a job at SOL when I graduate?'" She stopped walking and looked down to the ground. "I'm used to making fake friends, selfish greedy people that only use me to further themselves. It's a pointless cycle and to compound it my brother doesn't trust me."

She looked up to see Sateriasis staring at her in disbelief "Gumina…" He muttered before speaking to her "Look I'm not interested in either a) getting a new duel disk, the one I have at the minute is perfectly suffice or B) A job at SOL technologies, I simply don't want to work for that company as my father did."

"What did your father work as?" Aoi said, despite receiving information from Akira she was still unsure about what role Sateriasis' father played in SOL.

"He was legal director of the company." Sateriasis answered bluntly as he walked further into the school grounds, wanting to end this talk now. "I'd much appreciate it if you weren't to talk about him."

Aoi didn't expect Sateriasis to be so curt and was stunned at his different reactions to the usual, "O-oh, okay then."

' _Aoi Zaizen, keep your nose out of other people's business. First my deck then you want to know more about my father, if I'm right then it would look like you suspect me of hiding something.'_ While thinking this a hint of Mammon's personality shone through momentarily in the shape of a slight feral grin. _'And you're absolutely correct, such a shame you'll never find out.'_

"Hey Marlon! Zaizen!" Issue #2 cheerfully reared his head into the situation.

Sateriasis groaned and cursed God for the luck he received "Hello Naoki, to what fine pleasure do I owe your presence."

"Is that sarcasm?" Naoki said raising an eyebrow.

"Is the sky blue?" came the snarky reply.

"Funny one Marlon. Hey I was wondering if I could see your deck again! It was so cool!" Naoki's enthusiasm was a bit too much for Sateriasis to handle at this time of day, so he practically shoved the deck into Naoki's hands.

"Please keep it down." He pleaded, holding his head "I didn't sleep."

"Oh. Sorry about that." Naoki's eyes trailed down to the deck and landed upon a certain card that took his interest. "Wow! This card looks awesome!" The card he took out was link monster that had 2600 attack points and was a link 3 monster. "Darkstar Dragon of the Court." The Darkstar ace monster in question was similar in design to his real ace but had a more purplish colour scheme. Its three link markers were all pointing up.

"What did I just say about noise…?" Sateriasis muttered weakly.

"By any chance did you see the Mammon and Playmaker duel?" The fanboy Sateriasis loathed had come out, "The hero of VRAINS verses the villain who wanted to corrupt the entire system and Playmaker almost had him. If only Mammon wasn't so lucky…" Naoki said completely ignorant of the fact the so called villain was standing right in front of him, withholding the urge to strangle him then are there.

"No I was busying working so I didn't have the time to catch it." Sateriasis equivocated.

"No wonder you're such a killjoy if you're working all the time."

"My job requires round the clock work so I haven't the time to waste by viewing some stupid little spat." Sateriasis thought back to Gumina in her hospital bed.

Aoi who was listening closely, took interest in what exactly Sateriasis did that would've required him to stay up all that time. _'Could that be the thing he's hiding from everyone?'_

"Seriously?! What could possibly require that much work? Surely it must get boring?"

Unaware of the growing suspicion from Aoi, Sateriasis swiped the deck out of Naoki's hands and stared him hard in the eyes holding DDC in between his two middle fingers on his right hand. "Listen here. I'm only going to say this once. You've learned that curiosity killed the cat, that you shouldn't stick your head into situations you know nothing about. In Layman's terms the less you know about me the better." He returned the card to the deck then his pocket "Goodbye." The hunter left the stunned Naoki behind, whilst Aoi watched thoughtfully.

"Geez, I was only trying to be friendly." Naoki sighed, folding his arms behind his head "Wonder what his issue is?"

Aoi wasn't paying attention to what Naoki was saying, instead she was focused on what she saw on Sateriasis' palm as he held up his supposed ace. _'Who are you really Sateriasis Marlon?'_

* * *

Duel club was a two way deal. There was always a meeting before school properly started and one when school had ended for the day. Sateriasis was sat in the same manner as he was the previous day. The others around him were talking amongst themselves, occasionally they would try to get him involved. However he rejected every attempt made. Most of the members were there minus Aoi and Naoki.

The door opened and through it stepped Aoi "Sorry I'm late President," she said "I had something to do."

"That's fine Zaizen," Hosoda said "we're just about to start, Shima hasn't arrived either so you're not the only one."

' _He'll be here no doubt, like a moth to a flame_. _'_ Sateriasis sneered mentally, no matter what he'd say Naoki would still appear.

Then much to his chagrin, Aoi decided to sit herself next to him. _'What the hell does she want out of me?'_ There was no way under normal circumstances he would tell anyone about his past and especially not to the step-sister of the current SOL security chief, the company who had sent their own lackey after him.

"Now," Hosoda began "I let this slip my mind last time," he looked over to where Sateriasis was sat "Marlon I hope you don't mind but we encourage the members of this club to get to know each other, would you tell us a bit about yourself?"

' _Oh what joy and happiness…'_ He didn't even look Hosoda in the eye "I already told you my name and apart from the fact I'm sixteen there isn't much else for me to say." The disdain was evident for everyone listening, luckily some commotion outside took precedence.

"We just talked the other day! Shima! Naoki Shima!"

' _Loudmouth fanboy idiot.'_ Sateriasis thought as he and everyone else turned to look at the door. He praised the person who had apparently forgotten Naoki's name, envious of how he wasn't able to do the same.

"Oh!" The other voice was male and had a deep voice "I didn't realize this place was duel club!" Sateriasis raised an eyebrow _'What a terrible lair.'_

"Stop acting dumb!" They heard Naoki shouted as Hosoda headed to the door. "This place isn't for a loser who has no interest in Link VRAINS!"

Hosoda opened the door, and after a short conversation, the two people followed him inside. Naoki, who looked particularly annoyed and upset. The second was an incredibly uncomfortable Yusaku.

Yusaku stood between Hosoda and Naoki up front and spoke "I'm freshman Yusaku Fujiki." He bowed, the uncomfortable nature seemed wash straight off him leaving behind a completely calm and measured temperament.

' _That voice sounds familiar…'_ Sateriasis was confident he heard that voice somewhere before but he couldn't quite put on his finger on it.

"Ahem." Hosoda cleared his throat "Marlon?"

Sateriasis stared around him and looked to see everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to introduce himself. He stood up "Freshman Sateriasis Marlon. Nice to meet you." He promptly sat back down and returned to gazing at the roof.

He heard the conversation shift away from introductions to the new duel disk, something Yusaku already knew about since Naoki had bragged about it to him as well. That didn't shock him at all, Naoki seemed like the type of person that had to bragging order to cover his own failings.

"A card insertion-type duel disk?" Aoi's comment made him pay attention to what was going on. He saw that Yusaku's disk was an older model that had a blue, white and red colour scheme "It's the same as Playmaker's."

This caught the hunter's attention. During his conversation following the duel he had noticed when the AI spoke that Playmaker did in fact have an old-fashioned disk that shared the same colour scheme as Yusaku's.

"Could I see your deck?" Sateriasis scowled, he wondered if she did this to everyone. Yusaku obliged with Aoi and handed it over. Simply out of his inner greed he leaned over Aoi's shoulder to see the cards, his hands began to look awful clingy. However his insatiable greed quickly vanished when he saw what exactly the cards were. _'Neo the magic swordsman? Black Pendant?_ _Reinforcements?! What the hell is this?!'_ It was as if it was made intentionally bad to make it look like Yusaku had no skill whatsoever as a duelist.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud, obnoxious laugh. When he looked he saw that Naoki had taken Yusaku's cards and was laughing at how pathetic the cards were. Sateriasis too couldn't help but a laugh a bit, decoy deck or not _'Serves him right even if the deck is fake.'_

"Oi! Marlon! Shima!" Hosoda berated the two of them "Don't laugh at duelist's deck! A deck is a duelist's soul!"

"Sorry President." Naoki apologised, handing Yusaku back his deck.

' _Well colour me impressed, that's some heart you've got.'_ Was Sateriasis' own thoughts but what he spoke was "My apologies President."

With that said and done the meeting finally began, but there was only one thing on Sateriasis' mind _'I wonder how Allen's doing?'_

* * *

 **(VRAINS)**

"The things they set me up to do…" Allen said, surfing on top of the data wind, unlike Sateriasis who had his board supplied by Hanoi, Allen's was one of his own making using a SOL blueprint as a basis, it being a brilliant yellow in colour with black guards and accents.

"Still I can't say no to them." In his VR form Allen was known as Superbia. His getup consisted of a golden suit of knightly armour that shone brightly no matter where he was. In the middle of the suit, the marking of his vice appeared for all to see yet only two people knew of the significance of it. His spiky black hair now had occasional streaks of yellow and his eyes turned from green to purple.

Superbia waited patiently for his opponent, someone he was tasked with ending.

When he heard another D-Board land behind him, he smirked, the time had arrived.

"Hello Colt." He turned to see the SOL hunter on top of his pure white board, "Guess you weren't expecting to see me here?"

"No I was not." Came the blunt answer "So I'm guessing you're the one who sent me that message?"

"Yes, indeed Colt. I'm Superbia." That name seemed to trigger something inside of Colt that was kept hidden behind his mask. "And I'll be the one to beat you into a pulp!"

Behind his mask Colt look of grit and determination heightened, culminating in his reply. "I'd like to see you try."

"Oh it's my intention to do so."

"Speed Duel!" The two shouted simultaneously.

Colt LP: 4000 Superbia LP: 4000 Cardsx4

 **Turn 1**

"Since I tricked you into coming here, I think the least I can do is give you the opening move." Superbia's prideful tone of voice was beginning to annoy Colt greatly "After all you're going to need all the help you can get."

"Fine then, I start off by activating the effect of **Codecracker Decryptor**. By sending this card in my hand to the graveyard I get to look at the top three cards of your deck and for every monster card I get to draw the equivalent amount. Now let's see what you have." A stream of code infiltrated into Superbia's disk and showed Colt the next three cards, 2 monsters and 1 trap.

"Well, well, well, you have two monsters coming to you in the near future and in my present that's an extra two cards coming my way." Colt drew twice much to Superbia's annoyance "Hey! How dare you look at my deck without my blessing?!"

Colt ignored this and continued "Next when I control no monsters on my field I can special summon this card from hand. Come on out **Codecracker Vigilante!** " Codecracker Vigilante was a man in a faded, tattered brown cloak that in his right hand was carrying a gun.

 _Codecracker Vigilante Level 3, Warrior, EARTH (500/_ _ **500**_ _)_

"Now appear the encrypted circuit that lights the way! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition is one Codecracker effect monster with 1000 or less attack points! I set Codecracker Vigilante in the link markers." Vigilante headed towards the bottom of the link square "Circuit combine! Appear, Link 1! **Codecracker Receiver!** "

Breaking out of the square was a military man holding a set of headphones to his ears that was connected to a radio.

 _Codecracker Receiver Link 1, Warrior, EARTH_ ( **1000** ) _**Link Markers: Down**_

"I activate Receiver's effect it allows me to summon one level four or lower monster from my hand to the zone it is linked to. I summon Codecracker Signal Operator!" The other radio man appeared behind.

 _Codecracker Signal Operator_ , _level 4, Warrior, EARTH (_ _ **1600**_ _/400)_

"Signal Operator's effect! By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard I get to summon one more Codecracker from my hand. Codecracker Drone come on out!" The small drone began hovering next to the SOL hunter.

 _Codecracker Drone Level 1, Machine, EARTH (0/_ _ **200)**_

Superbia was beginning to become a bit worn out by all of Colt's special summoning "Come on!" He moped "I want a turn!"

"And you shall get it whenever I'm done. Drone's effect activates! I get to send the top three cards of your deck to the graveyard and for every monster that hits the graveyard you lose 500 life points." Colt smirked "And I know due to my recon that you have two monsters so in layman's terms that means you'll be taking 1000 points of damage."

"What!" Superbia was then blasted by the bombs.

Superbia LP: **4000 – 3000**

"I end my turn." Colt said, pleased at the current pace off the duel _'You better be watching because I'll prove my worth to you Zaizen, Mammon may have bested me but I will not let this pretender beat me!'_

Sure enough Akira was watching. It mightn't have been what he was looking for but it gave him a chance to evaluate Colt's usefulness, he'd already taken precautions in case Colt failed _'Colt, this is your chance, whether you take it is up to you.'_

However Akira wasn't the only official in SOL technologies watching the duel. Sat in another section of the building, the head of development was watching on thoughtfully. He was a man in his early thirties that had black hair which was long enough to cover his right eye while the other side was spiked up. He had cold blue eyes that pierced the soul of anyone he looked at. He was sharply dressed in a black suit and tie over the top of a white button-up shirt, on his right wrist was a standard model green disk, finally he wore black shoes.

This man was called Zitor Lucifinia _'Tread lightly Colt, my son is no pushover.'_

 **Turn 2**

"Finally!" Superbia sighed "My turn! I draw! To begin with I'll activate my **Kurati** **Harvest** spell card!" The card art showed a gleaming field that was being gleaned clean by golden tools "When this card is activate I can draw two cards, now I summon my **Kurati** **Hunter!** " Kurati Hunter was as its name suggests a hunter but it had a golden bow and was plated in golden amour.

 _Kurati_ _Hunter Level 4, Warrior, LIGHT (_ _ **1800**_ _/200)_

"When Kurati Hunter is summoned to my field I can add another copy of it to my hand and then summon it!" The second copy of the monster ran beside the other one.

"I activate their effects, once per turn they can deal you damage equal to the number of cards in your hand x200!" Both copies drew their bows "Currently you only have the one in your hand but I think 400 is still a good number." The two hunters released their arrows striking Colt hard.

Colt's LP: **4000 – 3600**

"Now appear the circuit of pride that guides me! Arrowheads confirmed, the summoning conditions are two 'Kurati' effect monsters with less than 2000 attack points. I set my two Kurati Hunters in the link markers." One of the hunters flew to the bottom while the other one went to the bottom left "Circuit combine! Appear, Link 2! **Kurati** **Warrior of Light!** " This monster was a knight in shining golden armour that stood head and shoulders above any other monster on the field. It wielded a large two pronged golden sword and had a black cape.

 _Kurati_ _Warrior of Light, Link 2, Warrior, LIGHT (_ _ **2100**_ _)_

"I activate Warrior's effect! Once per turn when I have more cards in my hand I can hit you for damage by the difference of 400 per card!" KWL's Sword began to charge with electricity. "That means 1200 points of hurt is coming your direction!"

' _So that's his plan. He keeps his hand full so he can deal burn damage through the deficit he builds up. Interesting…'_ Colt thought before he felt the brunt of the damage.

Colt's LP: **3600 – 2400**

Superbia's grin began to rival Mammon's in size "Battle! I attack Codecracker Receiver! Prideful punishment!" KWL cleaved its huge sword cleanly through the body of Receiver slicing it almost symmetrically in two.

"I activate the effect of **Codecracker Battle Operator!** By sending this card in my hand to the graveyard I take no battle damage." The incoming blow was repulsed by a monster similar to Mammon's Corruption Distributor.

Superbia groaned, he turned to look Colt in the face "Aww. You're no fun, it would have been interesting to see you pick yourself up from the power of my monster."

"I'm not about to let you win y'know, my survival as an individual is on the line and I will not go back to living like I once did. That hell hole ripped everything away from me, the fire held in my heart to find those responsible will never be extinguished!" Colt replied with fire in his voice.

"Nice speech," Superbia scoffed "however it doesn't account for anything! Warrior's other effect activates when it successfully destroys a monster I get to draw one card, and with that I'll end my turn."

Superbia's Cards x5

 **Turn 3**

"My turn! I draw! When I control two or more Codecracker monsters on my field I can summon **Codecracker Researcher!** " Researcher was a middle aged man in a white lab coat that was holding a tablet in his right hand.

 _Codecracker Researcher, Level 3, Warrior, EARTH (500/_ _ **1200**_ _)_

"When Researcher is summoned I can add one spell or trap card to my hand. That card will be the Enigma Code spell card which I now activate to add one Codecracker monster with less than 2000 attack points to my hand."

"So what, none of those monsters have attack points that will match mine." Superbia said with a sneer.

In the SOL building his father seemed to have the same sentiment _'I don't understand why Zaizen hired you in the first place Colt, you're useless and I look forward to seeing what becomes of you when you lose this duel.'_

"Mr Lucifinia." His secretary spoke out to him making him take his eyes of the duel.

"Yes? What is it?" He had a firm, authoritative tone.

"The higher ups have requested an audience with you." Zitor smirked _'About time.'_ He thought.

"Thank you for telling me, I'll go now." He stood up and took one last look at the duel before leaving _'Finish him Allen.'_

"Prepare yourself!" Colt exclaimed "Appear the encrypted circuit that lights the way! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are 2+ Codecracker effect monsters! I set Codecracker Signal Operator, Drone and Researcher in the link markers!" All three monsters headed to the bottom of the link square "Circuit combine! Be born, Link 3! Essence of Wrath - **Codecracker Retributioner!** "

Breaking out of the link square was a monster on par with Superbia's monster in size. Retributioner was dressed in a plain darkish suit but looks can be deceiving as was the case as beneath this attire it wore a black assassin's outfit that held multiple guns mainly revolvers and it had knifes too.

 _Essence of Wrath - Codecracker Retributioner, Link 3, Warrior, DARK (_ _ **2600**_ _)_ _ **Link Markers: Bottom, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.**_

"This is my resolve to fight! I activate Retributioner's effect! Once per turn by sending one card in my hand to the graveyard such as the one I received from Enigma Code I can summon back one monster from my graveyard so long as it points to one of the linked zones however its effects are negated and it can't attack."

Superbia seemed too stunned to even reply _'Neither of them told me about this!'_

Colt continued on without caution "I summon back my Drone." The whirring of the turboprops could be heard once again "Now for the effect of the monster I sent to the graveyard, **Codecracker Encryptor** when it hits the graveyard due to a card effect I can summon it back the field." Encryptor was in a similar vain to Researcher however this time it hunched over the tablet working on code.

 _Codecracker Encryptor, Level 1, Warrior, EARTH (0/_ _ **0**_ _)_

"Retributioner's other effect. Twice per turn I can destroy a card that is linked to this monster and deal you 500 points of damage for each one!" Retributioner revealed two of the hidden revolvers beneath its suit, the Codecrackers were transformed into bullets and loosed at Superbia striking the Kurati duelist form his board.

Superbia's LP: **3000 – 2000**

Superbia on his way down clung onto to a nearby rooftop for dear life before eventually being able to regain himself on the board albeit far more cautions than before.

"Battle! Retributioner attack Kurati Warrior of Light! Wrath shot!" Another bullet, this one a crimson red was shot, hitting KWL square in the head and piercing its amour.

Superbia's LP: **2000 – 1500**

"The final effect of Retributioner! When it destroys a monster you are dealt damage equal to half of the destroyed monsters attack! In Layman's terms that's half of 2100!"

Superbia's LP: **1500 – 450**

"Your turn…" Colt smirked "If you can take it that is."

 **Turn 4**

"Oh don't get so high and mighty just because you managed to destroy one of my monsters, I have an endless repertoire of powerful cards that will crush you!" Superbia drew with the determination to end this duel this turn "You may have caught me off guard with that card of yours but I'll still win in the end."

"And what makes you think that?" Colt stated matter-of-factly.

"Simple really. I activate **Kurati** **Rebirth**! This card allows me to resurrect one 'Kurati' link monster from my graveyard but its attack points drop to zero and its effect is negated. Re-emerge Kurati Warrior of Light!"

"That's it?" Colt sneered, unimpressed

Superbia scowled "Of course not! Since I control Link monster I can special summon **Kurati** **Servant** through his effect to my field." Servant appeared almost kow-towing beside the weakened KWL.

 _Kurati_ _Servant Level 2, Warrior, LIGHT (0/_ _ **600**_ _)_

"The end is near Colt! Appear the circuit of pride that guides me! Arrowheads confirmed, the summoning conditions are at least two Kurati monsters! When a link monster is used in summoning another link monster its links count as material! I set Kurati Servant and Kurati Warrior of Light in the Link markers! Circuit combine! Appear, Link 3! Essence of Pride - Kurati Shining Dragon!"

Breaking out of the link square came a dragon covered with golden armour that flew above the data stream with its radiant white wings plated with golden amour on the edges. Unlike Corruption Dragon its head wasn't covered with horns. The eyes were of a red colour that. It had a long thrashing tail that split into two at the end with each ending have detailed silver tip.

 _Essence of Pride -_ _Kurati_ _Shining Dragon, Link 3, Dragon, LIGHT (_ _ **2400**_ _)_ _ **Link Markers: Top, Bottom, Left**_

Colt's suspicions were confirmed in that moment "Do the words 'Inferno Project' mean anything to you?"

"No. Why? Should they?" Superbia's words contradicted his facial expression. "Anyway. I don't have time to talk about this! Shining Dragon's effect when he's first summoned he gains five hundred attack points for each card I hold but it reverts at the end phase. Currently I hold four so that's 2000 points!"

There was a visible bulking of power as Shining Dragon absorbed the energy.

Shining Dragon's ATK: **2400 – 4400**

"Battle! Shining Dragon vanquish Retributioner! Shining Ray!" Shining Dragon unleashed all its might at Retributioner, with the purest intention to obliterate the Codecracker ace monster. The opposing monster briefly fought back but was destroyed, tossing Colt into the air.

Colt's LP: **2400 – 600**

"See that! That's my true power!" Superbia said with a pronounced smirk.

However that was wiped off his face instantly at the sound of Colt's laughter "Why thank you for doing that. You see when Retributioner is destroyed in battle it makes the opposing monster repent for what it has done. In Layman's terms the monster that destroys this card is itself destroyed and you take damage equal to its attack points."

A red beam shot of a vortex behind Colt and struck the back of Shining Dragon "Thanks for this Superbia. It certainly gave me a test but I'm afraid this ends here and now!" The beam tore a hole through Superbia's beast dealing the finishing blow.

Superbia's LP: **450 – 0**

Colt: **Win!**

* * *

Akira watched, satisfied of the result he let himself relax for a moment _'Good work Colt, I don't have to rely on her now and I can be sure of your loyalty.'_

Meanwhile Zitor was walking through the corridors on his way back from the meeting, peaking into the security room his eyes locked with Akira's _'Zaizen, I give you two days maximum until you're axed, It's inevitable.'_ He smirked before returning to his own office.

Akira too gave his view on Zitor _'Lucifinia, I know you orchestrated this whole fiasco but the question is why?'_

His question was answered when he switched the screen to another feed, to see Blue Angel and Playmaker, there was just a 'small' problem and that being that Blue Angel was in a berserk state with a purple aura around her "Aoi!" He found himself shouting uncontrollably.

"Quick!" He exclaimed to the workers beneath him "Stop this duel! Cut the circuits! Anything! Hurry!"

"Yes sir!" They responded

"C'mon! I'll take full responsibility! Hurry!"

"It's no good. There's a system error!"

Akira banged his fist on the desk, his face contorting into one of moderate rage _'I told her not to disobey me! Doesn't she know I do this to protect her?!'_

Over in Den Academy Sateriasis who started watching before Akira was having a little too much fun for comfort. He only turned onto it upon hearing Naoki's outburst of excitement but he didn't regret doing it one bit.

It was when Blue Angel drew on her second turn that things got interesting. She seemingly started to lose it, she stood dazed for a few seconds after the draw. Sateriasis thought back to what Specter and Revolver had said to him the other day then the answer become clear to him. _'Other methods eh? I couldn't agree more.'_

Playmaker appeared to notice this momentary daze as well, he rushed to end it quickly, recovering Link Bumper from his graveyard before then plunging into the data storm and emerging with a new Link monster _'Hope you got lucky Playmaker. Her time is short.'_

He then used Salvagent Driver in combination with Link Bumper to summon his new monster called Encode Talker. Afterwards he summoned Defect Compiler, launching an attack on Blue Angel's Trickstar Lilybell using a quick-play spell Frontline Disturbance to help in the assault.

Blue Angel interrupted the attack by activating her skill 'Trickstar Fraud' forcing Playmaker to draw until he had three cards. _'That's a desperation move there, she's worried about losing if Playmaker's plan goes through.'_ However if Blue Angel's plan came to fruition Playmaker would be defeated.

Just when she thought it was over, Playmaker triggered Defect Compiler's effect negating the damage and placing a counter on the card.

Shit completely hit the fan when Blue Angel in an act of desperation suddenly went berserk after activating the effect of the last card in her hand 'Dark Angel', the card Sateriasis assumed was planted _'Hanoi's Angel…Has a nice ring to it.'_

"Ahhh!" Naoki exclaimed, catching everyone's attention "I'm sorry." He apologized sitting back down. _'What happened to you, Blue Angel?'_

Dark Angel's effect sacrificed Lilybell and switched Compiler's attack to her ace Link Monster, Trickstar Holly Angel who gained 800 attack points from Lilybell.

Playmaker was able to nullify any damage he would've received via Encode's effect. He activated Encode's other effect, that after damage calculation either Encode or another monster that is linked to it would gain attack points equal to the attack of Blue Angel's monster. Encode was the monster he selected raising its attack by 3000 the total of Holly Angel. Next he removed the counter from Compiler lifting Encode's attack to 6100.

Finally he ordered Encode to attack Holly Angel _'Still not enough Playmaker.'_ However Playmaker removed the disturbance counter from Encode decreasing the attack of Holly Angel by the defence points of all monsters on her field, Lycoris being the only one reduced Holly Angel's attack to 1800.

By this point, Blue Angel was on her knees, Encode closing in second by second _'You were a worthwhile experiment Blue Angel, the best part of this is now I can figure out who you really are.'_ At that point Encode connected, tearing through Holly Angel, defeating Blue Angel in an OTK.

' _The angel's wings have been clipped.'_ Sateriasis grinned as he switched off the duel and stood up.

"Excuse me." He interrupted "I received a message from the hospital about a relative. Could I go?" The teacher nodded.

* * *

Being wheeled out on an operating bed, Aoi lay unconscious while Yusaku waited in the corridor, Akira soon ran into the picture "Aoi!" He tried to get to the bed "Hang on, Aoi!" But was pushed away by a nurse "Please stay back! We're taking her to the exam room!"

"I'm her brother!"

"No one is allowed in the exam room!" The nurse replied sternly before walking off with the other staff.

Akira grunted before turning around to face Yusaku "You're the one who called me?"

"Yes I found her unconscious on the roof." Yusaku replied monotone.

"Thank you. Umm…I don't know if I should ask this but are you and Aoi…" Akira asked awkwardly.

"We're just classmates."

"I see. Things are fine now. Go home."

"Okay." Yusaku turned to leave.

"Wait a second." Akira called out, "What's your name?"

"Fujiki, Yusaku Fujiki." Yusaku replied.

Unbeknownst to the two them, listening in on the conversation Sateriasis stood. _'Aoi Zaizen is Blue Angel, if I'm correct that program prevents the victim from logging out of VRAINS, in addition only a person who knew of her identity would've have been aware of what was happening so that means that Yusaku knows of her online persona, even though he was at the club meeting this morning he vanished from class and the Blue Angel duel didn't happen until I assume he left, Aoi was also missing from the class so that m-'_

All of a sudden everything clicked in Sateriasis head, it mightn't be 100% confirmed but the evidence certainly pointed to one explanation _'Yusaku Fujiki, although I am not certain that you're Playmaker the evidence is beginning to mount. The similar disk, you knowing of Aoi's predicament, the poorly constructed deck used to make people second guess your ability. Looks like I have something to report to Revolver. '_

He felt a hand touch his shoulder, scared momentarily that washed away when he saw the yellow mirror on the person's hand. "May I ask what you're doing here Sat?" Allen said coolly.

"I could ask you the same question Allen." He said staring Allen in the face.

"Fair point."

"So, how did your little match go?" Sateriasis took immediate notice of Allen's sheepish reaction and lack of response. "I assume you lost then." He said raising an eyebrow, getting a weak nod in reply "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey! I resent that!" Allen shouted like a petulant child "I almost had him. You should've seen!"

Sateriasis deadpanned "That's code for I failed massively, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Allen weakly admitted then going almost as pale as Sateriasis "And my father was watching the duel and I know he's going to crucify me for losing."

Sateriasis didn't respond seeing that Allen hadn't finished talking "That's not even the worst part of the whole thing…" He ran a hand through his hair "Sat there's something about that Colt guy."

Sateriasis raised an eyebrow, skeptical that there was anything more to Colt than the loyal lapdog of SOL he envisioned "What would that be exactly?"

Even though it seemed impossible Allen got even paler, emphasizing his tattoo he spoke with a quiver "He mentioned the Inferno Project and the way he talked about it makes me believe, that he was involved just as you and I were."

At first Sateriasis seemed too shocked to reply, his eyes were wide and sweat began to drip "I know that was my first reaction too." Allen said before Sateriasis collected himself to answer.

"Well, even if he was involved that means nothing, if he stands in my way then I have no concerns in overwhelming him and dealing the final defeat. Gumina's fate rests within my hands, I will not allow anyone to interfere or get in my way."

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah so this wasn't what I said it would be. What I originally planned and wrote just didn't sit right with me, so I rewrote the chapter but I'll do have the remnants of the other one meaning that it could possibly be a future chapter with some tweaking.**

 **Moving on...In this chapter I decided to debut another character and I also showed off Allen's deck in his duel with Colt. I'd like to know what you think of the duel in this chapter as I tried to flesh it out a bit more, I'm still pretty green on writing them.**

 **With that said and done. I hope to see you in the next** **chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four: The Story of Evil**

After his conversation with Allen, Sateriasis went to leave the hospital and go back home to his apartment but not before taking a look into his own sister's room, doing so brought back painful, oh so painful memories.

* * *

 **(Flashback) (Three years ago)**

"Gumina…Please…Please don't leave me." Sateriasis begged, holding his barely conscious sister's hand, his tears were streaming down his face.

With seemingly her last ounce of strength, Gumina weakly turned to her distraught brother "Sati," she said using her nickname for him "don't ever forget the promise we made."

Sateriasis couldn't handle this, he had already watched his father die before his eyes and here was the only person he had left about to fall comatose and possibly never awake from it. "I-I w-won't-t."

Gumina just about managed a smile before it faded away and she shut her eyes, leaving Sateriasis alone and by himself.

He would cry long into the night.

 **(Flashback end)**

* * *

' _I swear on my life I'll find a way to make the Cyberse pay for what it did to you. That is one promise I can fulfil.'_ Sateriasis thought in a mixture of anger and sadness, he walked away and back home to his apartment, hands in his pockets.

In another part of the hospital, Akira was staring into Aoi's room when two doctors approached him.

"How's my sister doing?" He asked.

"She's still in a coma."

"Why did this happen?"

"She has no external wounds. I think the problem is with her brain. Even with the latest equipment, we couldn't pinpoint the cause. Unfortunately, we don't know when she'll wake up."

"No… Aoi…"

* * *

In a hollow metal room, Akira stood on the end of a walkway as three huge white virtual chess pieces came into being. A rook on the left, a knight on the right and a bishop in the centre of it all.

The bishop piece glowed blue as a voice spoke out of it "Zaizen, you know why we called you."

"You didn't tell us about your sister." The rook glowed blue.

"That's…" Akira looked down.

"But let's put that to the side," the knight spoke "It's a problem you can't control your family, but that's not the main issue."

"That's right." The glow returned to the bishop "The problem is your sister had a Hanoi card."

"We found a Hanoi program in the duel records. Your sister was in contact with the knights of Hanoi." The rook stated matter-of-factly.

"If Blue Angel was secretly communicating with Hanoi, you betrayed our company." The knight finished off.

"Can I make a statement?" Akira said.

"What is it?" Bishop questioned.

"I believe Playmaker tricked my sister."

"Your sister is currently unconscious. So we can't confirm the truth. We're not naïve, so we won't simply accept your statement. We must rethink your value." Bishop responded.

"Be prepared for that. Any objections?" Knight asked

Akira bowed "No. None at all." The VR dissipated around him as he finished speaking.

* * *

Upon a motorcycle a woman rode to a predetermined location. She had long pink hair with lavender bangs and pink eyes. She wore a violet outfit with a pink t-shirt underneath with purple strip going across her body and a black belt at the waistline. She also wore a black choker and black and purple boots and sported a black fingerless gloves on both of her hands. Her name was Emma Bessho.

Once the guarded black car came into view, she slowed to a stop and removed her helmet.

The guard opened the back door and out stepped Akira, who was followed closely by Colt whom was trying his best not to look displeased and annoyed.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asked. "If it's about Playmaker, I don't have any info yet. I've checked many things, but he left no traces in Link VRAINS. Playmaker is a skilled hacker."

Akira and Colt approached "I need your help." Akira said.

"Oh my. Another favour? Wow. You know what I did, right?"

"About Aoi?"

"Why did SOL Technologies' top executives know that Blue Angel was your sister? How did they know she was hospitalised?" She said almost provocatively.

"I don't care about that. I know I'm not the only one who's hired you." Akira replied.

"Oh? And you still called me? You must be out of options."

"I don't care what you think. I'm in a fix, I'll be fired after the next executive meeting."

"Oh. And?"

"I don't care about myself. The problem is Aoi. Aoi still hasn't woken up. The only one who knows what happened to Aoi is Playmaker." Akira explained.

"You're right."

"But if I'm fired, they'll stop chasing Playmaker for a while. If something happens to Aoi during that time…I must resolve this situation before then. I will capture Playmaker, no matter what."

He turned to Colt behind him and then to Emma "You two are my only allies."

"I'm willing to go along with whatever you have planned. I was hired to do a job and that's what I will accomplish." Colt said, still looking like he didn't want to be there.

"Since I'm partially responsible, you're threatening me to help."

"That's right, I'll never forgive Playmaker for hurting Aoi!" Akira returned back to the car, leaving just Colt and Emma to converse.

Colt shot Emma a dirty look "I don't think this needs to be said but, I really don't like you."

Emma lent on her motorcycle "My, I didn't know you thought that way about me Shaytan."

Colt refused to look Emma in the eye "Don't misunderstand me, I only hate your modus operandi."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't hate you as a person," he said heading back to Akira's car "I have no reason to, I only hate the way you go about your business. Selling yourself off to other people when under contract with someone else, that is just wrong."

* * *

 **(Hanoi)**

"It seems it went well." The voice belonged to Kiyoshi Kogami, founder of the Knights of Hanoi.

"Yes. Now Playmaker will have to comply with our demands." Revolver replied.

"Ignis must be eliminated from this world." Kogami said, his back still turned.

"Does that hurt?" Revolver asked

"It's the same as killing your own child."

"I know how important it is to eliminate Ignis and the Cyberse." Revolver said, Kogami then left just as someone else came into the picture, looking rather pleased with themselves.

"Sorry if I'm dropping in unannounced, it won't happen again but I've got something to say." Mammon said, with a half formed black card hovering above his index finger.

Revolver smirked "And what exactly would that be?"

Mammon grinned "I have a feeling on who Playmaker could possibly be."

"Oh? Is that so?"

The card above Mammon formed into one as he threw it to Revolver "The suspect's name is Yusaku Fujiki. This card contains the data I have been able to collect on him."

Revolver looked at the card in question then returned his gaze expectantly to Mammon.

"I expect you want to know why I suspect him. Well to follow your line of logic I have three reasons." Mammon raised his right hand, not caring to hide his mark "One: During the Blue Angel experiment I noticed that both Aoi Zaizen and Yusaku were missing from the class, after the end of the duel I went to the hospital and overheard a conversation that led me to believe Yusaku was already aware of Aoi's predicament. Second: In real life he has a deck that is so poorly constructed that anyone with a brain would consider him a complete amateur, but since it is so badly built it becomes obvious it was built solely to be bad. And finally, third: His disk and Playmaker's are both older models and I am yet to meet someone who also has an older disk. It is for those three reasons that I suspect him."

For a moment the leader stood there in silence, he then let out a short dry laugh.

* * *

 **(Next Day)**

"Y'know Sat, for someone who complains about his lack of sleep, you don't do yourself any favours by staying up to four in the morning." Allen said, commenting on the dishevelled appearance of Sateriasis as the two of them were sat outside a café.

"I was doing research." He dismissively waved off Allen's concerns, instead he simply drank from his cup of coffee. "Do you have any proof that he was involved?" He then asked Allen referring to Colt's apparent victim status in Inferno.

There was a momentary pause while Allen cleared his mouth from what he was eating "Yeah. I wasn't so sure of it myself so I phoned my dad to see if he had seen the real life him, turns out that he is indeed marked. That along with his knowledge of the event and his ownership of that card all but confirms it." Allen finished resolutely.

Sateriasis was about to speak again but he was interrupted by a beeping noise coming from his tablet, when the feed came to it was in the process of an announcement, the announcement itself didn't pose any problems however the issue came from the person that delivered it. _'Blue Angel?'_ He thought, completely baffled _'How? I saw her comatose the other day! This has to be a trap. Hopefully Playmaker isn't an idiot.'_

"Wait, I thought you said Blue Angel was in hospital. Playmaker must know that if I know it, meaning this is a trap for him." Allen said.

Nearly simultaneously with Allen's comment Playmaker appeared and with it greatly lowered Sateriasis' opinion of him.

Soon after Playmaker's arrival the person posing as Blue Angel dropped the façade revealing themselves to be Ghost Girl, a mercenary duelist and hacker for hire, who used the Link VR to trap Playmaker. Preventing anyone from logging in or out.

"Heh." Sateriasis laughed as he got up from the table "She just doesn't know when to quit, does she?"

* * *

 **(VRAINS inside the church)**

"If you don't talk soon, your body will be torn apart!" Akira shouted as he tightened the grip of his hand, causing the strange hand holding Playmaker to also tighten and make him roar in pain.

"Akira, aren't you going a little overboard?" Ghost Girl inquired, seeming concerned for Playmaker's safety. "You want him to be alive to answer your questions."

"I won't patronize my enemy!" Akira shouted, making Ghost Girl roll her eyes. "Everybody who hurts my sister becomes my enemy! Now, tell me what you did Playmaker!" He went to tighten the hand trap further.

However the opposite effect happened, baffling Akira before he became aware of why when a voice spoke up "I figured you'd do something like this Zaizen," out of his hiding place stepped Zitor with a smug grin "which is why I can't allow it to go on." Upon a closer inspection Akira could see Zitor's right hand glowing a bright green. "Playmaker here is indeed telling the truth. The duel records show that in your sister's possession was a Hanoi program but I'm unaware of whether she had it of her own volition." He took a position to the side of Playmaker

"I already said it, lying won't work!" Akira shouted while Zitor just shook his head.

"The truth hurts doesn't it Zaizen? Now it's time for me to fulfil my duty." Zitor flicked his wrist, once again loosening Playmaker's prison further.

Right as the trap was about to be undone, a bolt of lightning struck the floor of the church, making everyone shield their eyes. Emerging from the ball came the presence of Revolver stunning everyone in the room.

'He's…' Ai began.

"Revolver!" Playmaker finished as said person stared him dead in the eyes

"Revolver?" Ghost Girl asked.

"A knight of Hanoi!" Akira said still boiling with rage.

Zitor was the only one to remain silent, simply observing the scene unfold.

"Let Playmaker go." Revolver said bluntly

"What?"

"I'll be the one to face him." Revolver answered.

"I can't allow that!" Akira stated matter-of-factly.

"I see." Revolver turned to face Akira "You underestimate my power." He held his hand up to the sky, causing a data storm to spool and surround him before he sent it crashing through the wall and onto the system beyond.

"Who is this guy?" Ghost Girl asked stunned by Revolver's ability "He can control the data storm!"

"I can easily destroy Link VRAINS. But I don't care about that. I only have one objective. Playmaker's Ai."

"You think we'll just give it to you?" Akira said in disbelief.

"You'll give it to me. We put a computer virus into your sister, Blue Angel." Revolver admitted.

"Huh?"

"Only we can remove the virus."

"Why my sister?"

"For hostage."

"Hostage?"

"It could've been anyone. As long as it inflamed Playmaker's sense of justice and drew him out. But a no-name wouldn't be effective. That's why we used Blue Angel."

"Used Aoi? Handover the removal program!"

"That'll depend on you. SOL Technologies' security manager, Akira Zaizen. Your job is to retrieve Ignis. If you retrieve Ignis, you'll fulfil your job for SOL technologies. But your sister won't wake up from the darkness for the rest of her life. If playmaker defeats me in a duel, I'll give you the removal program."

"No way! Entrust my sister's future to people who I don't know?"

"There's only one path. Now choose your sister's future!"

"Akira…" Ghost Girl muttered sadly.

"My sister's life is irreplaceable." The purple glow dissipated from Akira's hand as too did the green glow from Zitor's. The trap disintegrated into black particles and Playmaker touched down on the ground.

'That was horrible.' Ai complained.

Revolver smirked then laughed slightly "I'll be waiting for you, Playmaker." He was then lifted away by a small portion of the data storm.

'Are you going? He's an even more powerful foe than Mammon.' Ai questioned the hero of VRAINS.

"I've come this far in order to battle him." Playmaker said before rushing off.

Akira called out to him "Playmaker. I can trust you, right?" He sounded rather unsure of himself. This only got worse when Playmaker didn't respond "What I did to you was horrible. But for my sister, you'll still… You'll still fight for me even though you should hate me?"

Playmaker kept his back turned "I don't hate you. I only hate the knights of Hanoi." He left then after.

Soon enough both Playmaker and Revolver were in the midst of a Speed duel "Playmaker, you've interfered with us many times."

"Revolver, my only desire is to battle the Knights of Hanoi. When I win this duel, I'll uncover all of your identities!" Playmaker said in return.

"I don't care who you are." Revolver replied dryly "There are many in this world who hate us. And you're just another one. We only have one goal. To retrieve the Ignis!"

"Ignis?" Playmaker asked, while Ai did the mechanical equivalent of giving Revolver the middle finger.

"You acquired that AI without knowing what it is?"

Ai narrowed its eye 'Don't worry about me. When Playmaker wins, I'll eat your program! And get my body back!'

Revolver looked at Ai in just barely contained disgust "Fine. But if I win, you're mine. Okay, Playmaker?"

"Yeah."

"The winner acquires everything, the loser loses everything. That's competition."

'Looks like you didn't bring your support Ai.' Ai pointed out.

"I don't trust Ai. The internet world is a fiction. What's important are the breath and heartbeat of life. But people are misled by fake user-friendliness and bonds, entrusting their souls to this fiction. Not realizing this folly will destroy the world!"

Ai's eye was wide 'What's with him? He's a hacker, but he criticizes the internet? Is he anti-modern?'

"Ignis will lead us to destruction!" Revolver continued passionately "Since you are helping him, you're also guilty! Sorry, but I need you gone."

Revolver then smirked "I'll create a fitting stage for our battle!" At the flick of his wrist the world around them began to crack and soon it looked like the very gates of hell.

"Here we go! The hellish duel begins now!"

"Let's go!"

'Seize the wind Playmaker!'

" **Speed Duel!** "

Back inside the church, Ghost girl began to move "I'll go after them."

Akira turned agreed to this "Ghost Girl, send visual footage."

"Understood." She like Playmaker ran off and within seconds she was on her D-board following the action.

Soon she had her own cameras set up, sending a live feed of the duel to the two SOL employees on the ground.

"I question that validity of hiring Ghost Girl, Zaizen." Zitor said, sounding bored. "You already have that Colt character under your thumb, so why go and hire another hunter? One with considerably less moral scruples at that."

Akira shot Zitor a dirty look, before sighing and looking at Aoi's body "I'll do anything to protect Aoi's life and if that means reverting to dirty tactics like hiring hunters, then so be it."

' _Playmaker, Aoi's fate depends on your duel.'_ Akira thought.

Vrains wasn't the only place of commotion, back in the real world people were gathered around the screens in the city centre.

"What's going on?"

"I can't see a thing!"

"Playmaker and Hanoi's duel!"

They were some of the comments coming from the crowd. Allen too was in the crowd, although he was very much bored and unconcerned, he sighed as he muttered "Everyday same old shit. At least dad and Sat have it under control."

Inside the hot dog truck not too far behind the crowd Shoichi's mood was far different to Allen's. The screens that made up the back of the truck were all drowned in static. Shoichi worked desperately in order to get even some feedback.

"Why now?" He complained, just then one of the screens flickered into life and then another one came online. The reason for this was because Ghost girl had activated her recording devices allowing for the connection to be made. "Is this her camera?" He asked before realizing "She works for SOL Technologies…"

Unbeknownst to the three onlookers and Ghost girl herself, she wasn't the only person trailing behind the duel, it didn't take very long for that person made their presence known. When the camera feed on the ground suddenly became corrupted and the miniature cameras themselves started short circuiting it was all too obvious who it was "Hello there, Ghost Girl. I'm sorry but you won't be interfering in any way."

The addition of another voice shocked Ghost Girl, when she turned to see Mammon coasting behind her, her attitude was one of annoyance "Mammon, how did you get here? My trap should've prevented anyone from logging on."

Mammon grinned "Friends in high places." He said cryptically whilst doing what had become his trademark hand gesture. "Such friends have tasked me to jump in if I saw anything that could possibly interfere with their plans, low and behold you showed up under the veil of Blue Angel."

"So what? Are you just going to stand there and yap like usual or are we going to duel?" Ghost girl asked, very cleared irritated.

Mammon wagged his finger condescendingly "Of course! What's the point of me being here if not to do such? Just thought I'd let you know why before I pummel you for a second time."

" **Speed Duel!"** The two of them declared simultaneously.

* * *

Mammon's LP: 4000 Ghost Girl's LP: 4000 Cards x4

 **Turn 1**

"Since I'm in front, I'll be taking the first move!" Ghost girl declared emphatically.

Mammon shrugged and smirked "Fine by me, even if you take the first move, you will never be able to beat me. Because when it really matters you just crumble and turn into a pathetic excuse for a hunter."

Ghost girl appeared at face value to ignore the comment but was mentally raging, a rage that included multiple curse words "To begin I summon Altergeist Marionetter from my hand!" A decrypt hybrid of a ghost, marionette and machine took the field beside Ghost girl.

 _Altergeist Marionetter, Level 4, Spellcaster, effect, LIGHT (_ _ **1600**_ _/1700)_

Mammon let out a short laugh "Come now, I've seen you do this strategy a million times, I guess nothing much has changed. Then again I wouldn't expect you to do so."

Ghost girl stayed silent throughout, however she thought differently _'If that bastard thinks he can cause me to lose focus again, he's in for a rude awakening.'_

"When Marionetter is summoned, I can select an Altergeist trap card in my deck and set it." She cycled through the options in front of her, finally settling on one after a while. "Then I set another card face down. I end my turn."

Ghost girl's hand x2

 **Turn 2**

"My turn, I draw. To begin with using its effect, I special summon Greedy Corruption Demon from my hand." The demon appeared looking as maniacal as ever.

 _Greedy Corruption Demon Level 5, fiend, effect, DARK_ ( **2500/** 1300)

"You're taunting me Mammon," Ghost girl said just barely hiding her annoyance. Mammon on the other hand feigned innocence and shrugged "I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about, I don't taunt my opponents, that's not my modus operandi."

"Stop playing dumb, I know you too well, I've spent too much time researching your style, whenever you summon that monster first there is always an alternative way to get it out at full power." Ghost girl said.

Mammon smirked "Well, I guess you figured me out on that one." He admitted "Yes, I do indeed have another way of summoning GCD, one that would've allowed me to summon it at full strength. But in this case summoning him this way is my best move."

The last statement threw Ghost girl for a bit of a loop _'What does he mean 'best move', summoning him this way makes him weaker than all of my monsters…'_

"Watch and you will see why I'm the superior duelist! I activate the spell card **Cesspool of Corruption!** " This card's art depicted a murky looking swamp area that had some repulsive black oozing substance slowly seeping its way out of a pit.

"This card allows me to search out two corruption monsters from my deck and add them to my hand, but as a cost for this I must send one card in my hand to the graveyard." The two cards Mammon selected replaced the discarded card in his hand.

"Next I summon **Corruption Marionpet!** " An even more demented puppet came onto the field. Its face was broken in half and coming from the other side, you could see from the eye that there was a toxic looking black liquid pouring out of it, the stings holding the puppet in place were close to being severed.

 _Corruption Marionpet, Level 2, Fiend, Effect, DARK (_ _ **0**_ _/0)_

"Marionpet's effect! During the turn that it is summoned, I can select one Corruption monster in my graveyard and summon it to the field, provided I render the monster's effect and attack points, null and void." The puppet cackled as a pair of strings dipped into the vortex behind Mammon. "I revive my previously discarded monster Paladin of Corruption!"

Paladin of Corruption was pulled out attached to the same half worn strings as Marionpet.

Mammon's mocking grin turned feral as his pupils shrunk "Now! Appear the corrupted circuit that destroys all!" The link square appeared below "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Corruption monsters with less than 2000 attack points! Crush all that oppose us! Link 3! **Corruption Grimdead**!"

This new Corruption monster was somewhere in between Corruption Dragon and Allen's Shining Dragon in terms of size. It wore a long black hooded cloak that covered all of its body and most of its face bar the unnatural glowing silver eyes. In the monster's right hand there was a long double edged scythe which it wielded with expert precision.

 _Corruption Grimdead, Link 3, Fiend, Effect, DARK (_ _ **2000**_ _)_

Ghost girl turned back and looked at the monster in disdain "You criticised me for preforming the same moves and yet you've gone and done the same thing too!"

"My, you really haven't recovered from then, have you?"

Ghost girl's eye twitched with anger as she replied "You betrayed me! We were partners! And you intentionally led me into an ambush! It took all of my skills to get out of there!"

Mammon shrugged and smiled mockingly "You make it sound like such a big issue. All I did was follow the orders that were given to me that day. I did it for the money in layman's terms. Nothing less, nothing more."

Ghost girl fumed for while after but then suddenly settled down and returned to her calm, playful demeanour "Oh, but I bet that wasn't the only reason." She said knowingly.

Mammon became confused "What are you talking about?"

"I know your other motive, one other your greed." Once the answer clicked into place in Mammon's head, he became enraged and his usually insane, mocking attitude became much more like his real life personality.

"Don't you dare! I see where you're going with this! Leave her out of this matter, she has nothing to do with why I joined Hanoi or why I betrayed you!" Mammon became so enraged that for a second his real voice bled through.

Ghost girl realized that she had in effect hit the jackpot and continued down this path "I wonder what that person would think seeing you. I reco-"

"SHUT UP!" Mammon roared at the top of lungs "I'll make you pay for bringing her up! I activate Grimdead's effect! Once per turn I can send one corruption monster to my hand to the graveyard then Grimdead gains half that monster's attack points until the end of your next turn! There is only one monster left in my hand, I send **Corruption Gungnir** to the graveyard." A corrupted, corroded version of the monster Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier appeared on the field before being cut clean in two by Grimdead's scythe with the other Corruption monster absorbing the energy.

Grimdead's ATK: **2000 – 3000**

"Battle! Grimdead attack Altergeist Marionetter! Reaping Knell!" Grimdead vanished temporarily, it reappeared directly behind the Altergeist monster and swung its scythe. However…

"I activate Altergeist Kunquery's effect from my hand!" Ghost girl interrupted.

"What?!"

"I can special summon this card and use it to negate your attack!" Just as Grimdead's scythe was about to make contact, the ghostly mechanical horse monster came into being, blocking the attack from going through.

Ghost girl then giggled "When the special summoned Kunquery is on my field, I can negate the effect of one of the cards on your field!" Grimdead was enveloped in a silver hue rendering its effects and presence all but useless.

Grimdead's ATK: **3000 - 2000**

"Why you…" Mammon shook with unbridled rage "I place two cards face down and my turn!"

Mammon's cards x0

"You may have surprised me on that move but rest assured I will once more prove myself superior!"

 **Turn 3**

"My turn, I draw! If you think that's all then you're dead wrong, I'm only getting started! I summon my second Altergeist Marionetter!" Another copy of the monster appeared next to its double.

 _Altergeist Marionetter, Level 4, Spellcaster, effect, LIGHT (_ _ **1600**_ _/1700)_

"Due to Marionetter's effect, I select one Altergeist trap card in my deck and set it!" This trap led to her spell and trap zones along with the monster zones becoming full.

"Three monsters and three set cards." Mammon pointed out, recognising her full field "I won't deny saying that it's a solid formation."

"That's not all as well!" Ghost girl declared "Here comes the next phase of my plan!" She closed her eyes and crossed her hands "Open before me! The circuit that connects to the unknown parallel universe!" She opened her eyes and pulled her hands apart, for a moment a set of virtual strings appeared in between before dissipating, beneath Ghost girl the link square came into being.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two Altergeist monsters!" She winked playfully as she continued "I set two Marionetters and Kunquery in the link markers!" The three monsters turned into colourful spiralling burst of wind. Two green and one orange. "Circuit combine! Link summon! Appear, Link 3 Altergeist Primebanshee!"

Ghost girl's link monster was a ghostly red snake like monster that laughed as it appeared on the field.

 _Altergeist Primebanshee, Link 3, Spellcaster, Effect, DARK (_ _ **2100**_ _)_ Link markers: Bottom, Bottom right, Right

"I activate the trap card, Altergeist Materialization! I special summon Marionetter from my graveyard!" Marionetter reappeared out of the purple vortex "I'm not done." She stated matter-of-factly "I activate continuous trap, Altergeist Protocol! The due to Altergeist Marionetter's effect, I send Altergeist Protocol to the graveyard. Resurrect, Altergeist Marionetter!" Once again two Marionetters lined Ghost girl's field.

"I tribute Marionetter to activate Primebanshee's effect! Once during each of our turns, I special summon an Altergeist from my deck next to its link. Appear! Altergeist Meluseek!"

Mammon had kept quiet, in fact he wasn't even fully paying attention to the duel instead he lost focus when he heard the rush of a powerful fly past him. Looking past Ghost girl and further into the distance, he could see the spooling of a particularly powerful data storm. _'Playmaker… It's a real shame that I can't be the one deal you your first defeat but I'm sure that when Revolver's through with you, it take long for that dream to become a reality.'_

"I set one card facedown!" That statement brought Mammon back to the real world.

During the past two turns, Shoichi had been working frantically to re-establish the connection. He'd managed to get into the feed of the network but he faced a daunting task, the virus Sateriasis had unleashed was one of the most devastating he'd ever laid eyes upon. "This virus… This is unnatural…" Every attempted to rid it only ended up strengthening the corruption "I can't give up now." Finally he found a breakthrough. During the reconstruction there was slight frame of time where one could possibly eradicate it. Shoichi put one final effort into exploiting this hole in the programming.

It worked and soon the feed came back but this time it was two way. One screen showed Revolver and Playmaker's duel, the other showed the ensuing fight between Mammon and Ghost girl.

The feed also returned in the same manner to the two managers in the church.

"Mammon!" Akira shouted.

Zitor raised his hand "Zaizen, how about toning it down a bit, I like the use of my eardrums."

Akira didn't respond to Zitor, instead his eyes were locked firmly on the two duels playing out in front of him.

Mammon took a moment to survey the field and came to a defiant conclusion "Looks like in your rush to beat me, you made a massive miscalculation. None of your monsters have enough attack points to drop my life points to 0!"

"Are you sure about that…?" Ghost girl said, confusing Mammon.

"What are you on? There is no possible way for you to do so!"

"Here's the thing. Altergeist Meluseek can attack you directly even if there are other monsters on your field."

"And that changes what exactly?"

"Why not find out for yourself? Battle! Meluseek attacks you directly!" Meluseek gathered then shot out a beam of bright blue energy that hit Mammon square in the chest.

Mammon's LP: **4000 – 3500**

Mammon simply brushed off the attack "That was only 500 damage, I fail to see your point here."

Ghost girl turned and mimicked Mammon's finger wag "Meluseek's additional effect. When it deals you battle damage, one card on your field goes to the graveyard!" She winked playfully as she picked the unfortunate card "Cya, Corruption Grimdead!"

"So that's what you're getting at!" Mammon said, shocked as Grimdead dissolved into particles and vanished.

"I assume you can do maths." Ghost girl said, taunting Hanoi's hunter. "The remaining attack of my two monsters total 3800, you only have 3500 life points. How does this make you feel, Mammon?"

Despite Mammon's shock he wasn't overly impressed "I know what you are trying to get at, and no I don't have any regrets for what I did."

"Is that so? Altergeist Marionetter attacks you directly!" Another beam struck Mammon, this one had enough strength to rock his board.

Mammon's LP: **3500 – 1800**

"Finally, I'll surpass you! Right here! Right now! Altergeist Primebanshee direct attack!" Ghost girl declared _'I did it! I beat Mammon!'_

"Not so fast! I activate my trap card! **Corruption Hellfire!** " This card depicted what looked to be the very depths of hell itself. In the background three of Mammon's monsters were seen running through the flames, the gate was guarded on end by Grimdead and on the other end there was Corruption Dragon lying in wait.

"Corruption Hellfire's effect splits the damage between the two of us!" Primebanshee's attack was absorbed into the card which then struck both duelists.

Mammon's LP: **1800 – 750**

Ghost girl's LP: **4000 – 2950**

"Next I activate my other trap card! **Seeking Corruption!** During the turn I take damage from a direct attack, I can activate this card which allows me to summon one link monster from my extra deck that has attack points equal to or less than the damage I've received this turn."

Ghost girl's eyes went wide _'Oh god no…'_

"You know what that means!" Mammon shouted maniacally "The monster I select is no other than my ace! Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon!" Corruption Dragon screeched as it flapped its wings, causing a gust of wind powerful enough to rock Ghost girl on her board.

In the other duel, almost simultaneously with Mammon's ace dragon being summoned another powerful dragon was being summoned. One by the name of Topologic Bomber Dragon barred down on Playmaker.

 **Turn 4**

"My turn, I draw!" Mammon said "I hope you enjoy your last few moments, Ghost girl. Because this will be the final turn."

Ghost girl rolled her eyes "Oh please, Mammon. I have three monsters on my field and more life points than you, I don't see how you can turn this around. 'Hanoi's Hunter'." She put particular emphasize on the last words.

Mammon then quickly reverted back to his real world personality "Hanoi's Hunter? I won't deny that is indeed what I am and what I intend to be for as long it is required. Earlier, you said you wanted to know why I betrayed you and why I've devoted myself to Hanoi and its goals."

Ghost girl couldn't believe her ears and so she remained quite as Mammon continued "Let me ask you something, have you ever lost someone in your life?"

Once again Ghost girl remained silent, "If so you know exactly how I felt when my father was killed by SOL. That was the first strike. Imagine what that was like, I saw him die right before my own two eyes. Those wretches infected him with a computer virus, effectively poisoning him. They did this because he had found something, something they were unwilling to let him get away with."

"R-really?" Ghost girl said, slightly perturbed.

Mammon seemingly ignored Ghost girl's comment, continuing as if she hadn't spoken at all "The second strike came when that certain person you brought up earlier was admitted to hospital. It left me all by myself, you will never know how that felt, to have your last remaining family member ripped away from you."

Ghost girl was about to speak up but Mammon cut her off "But it was then in my moment of desperation and loneliness, _he_ came to me."

"And who would that be?"

"In the three years I've been by myself, I became desperate for money to help my sister's condition so I offered my services out to anyone who was willing to hire me. However, no one would take me on and thus my desperation grew by the day. But then I received a call from a mysterious person, he told me to meet him at predetermined location. There I first met with the person I now owe my life to." Mammon paused, letting Ghost girl take in all the information "That person was the leader of Hanoi, Revolver himself!" Mammon answered loyally "Technically in Layman's terms I joined Hanoi that day and since I never looked back."

"I see…" Ghost was about to say something else but the words died in her throat.

"But let's cut the reminiscing there! We're dueling here and I'm about to prove to you my victory is guaranteed! For a start, Corruption Dragon gains attack points equal to the level of a monster this card's link markers point to x200! The monster this card points to is your Marionetter, which means it'll be gaining 800 attack points.

Corruption Dragon's ATK: **2400 - 3200**

"Next I activate the effect of **Corruption Injector** from my hand." A small creature that was holding a comically large syringe appeared on the field "By sending this card in my hand to the graveyard, one of the monsters on my field gains the attack of the most powerful monster on your field! Primebanshee is now my prime target!" Injector inserted the syringe into Primebanshee's back slowly sucking the monster dry, it then move over and injected Corruption Dragon with the stolen power.

Corruption Dragon's ATK: **3200 – 5300**

Ghost girl still somewhat jaded from Mammon's speech, only now realised the trouble she was in but remained confident, _'Still, I can survive for this turn.'_

"As you can see, any monster I attack now with Corruption Dragon will drop your life points to zero if it hits." Mammon explained whilst waging his finger, signifying his persona's return.

"Now Corruption Dragon! Finish this right here and now! Attack Altergeist Primebanshee! Judgment of Corruption!" The black flames spooled in Corruption Dragon's mouth before being unleashed at Primebanshee.

"Trap activat-" Ghost girl tried to use her face down however it just wasn't to be.

"I don't think so! I activate the effect of Corruption Gungnir in my graveyard!"

"What?!" Ghost girl exclaimed.

"By paying 500 life points and banishing one more Corruption monster from my graveyard, I can negate the activation of your pathetic trap card!"

With her trap now gone, Ghost girl had no line of defence against Mammon's barrage. The flames dealt the finishing blow to Mammon's former partner.

Ghost girl's LP: **2950 – 0**

Mammon: **Win!**

* * *

Akira stood wide eyed as he watched the result of the two duels in front of him, the Playmaker and Revolver duel had resulted in Revolver forcing the match to end in a draw via Topologic's destruction effect. He couldn't believe the result of Ghost girl and Mammon's match.

Instead Zitor whom up until now had no absolutely no interest, all of a sudden decided to way in "Y'know I was always taught that, if you want something done Zaizen you should do it yourself."

Akira didn't respond instead he stood with his eyes bolted shut, Zitor spoke some more to try and irk a response "Look on the bright side Zaizen, Playmaker hasn't lost. If you want me to put that in layman's terms, your sister still has a chance of waking up."

This time Akira did respond but he sounded exasperated "I just wanted to keep her safe…"

"Zaizen," Zitor put on the most commanding voice he could, almost sounding like one of the executives "if you would be so gracious as to learn one thing from me. It would be that being overbearing and controlling leads to more undisciplined behaviour," even when he was trying to be considerate Zitor couldn't help but be smug in some facet.

Akira sighed, then clicked his fingers, soon after his other 'business partner' appeared "Colt…"

Colt looked to Aoi's body and removed his mask, in contrast to usually lay underneath his face was one of sorrow "What is required of me?" Although his tone still remained as flat as ever.

"I need you to go and find Ghost girl, Mammon beat her…" Akira muttered.

"Understood."

Standing on top of a roof top not too far away from where the duel ended, Mammon stood victoriously over the top of a worn out Ghost girl. "Do you see now? Not only once but twice I have proven myself to be the superior duelist."

Ghost girl looked limply as a purple card materialised into Mammon's hand, he raised it and fully embraced his insane side with a look of pure malice and twisted glee "However, that doesn't mean you can't be of use to Hanoi." Mammon threw the corrupted card at Ghost girl just as the female huntress passed out. "Sleep well, Ghost girl."

He then returned to his D-board, dropping his façade he neared the raging data storm _'If this is still at full strength that means Revolver and Playmaker are still dueling.'_ When he came within striking distance, the powerful gust nearly ripped him from his board _'Damnit! I can't get anywhere like this!'_ Refusing to give up, he circled around again "Wait."Mammon realised something and kicked mentally for not knowing sooner "This storm is a Hanoi program. I should be able to get in by exploiting the gaps in the code." Quickly he took to scan the program. The code flowed down the screen of his disk "There!" Instantly he attack the gap and before him a pathway appeared.

Mammon rushed inside and soon found himself gently descending to a floating stone platform. "Playmaker and Revolver! I was right!" He looked to the field. Playmaker had two of his code talker monsters out, while Revolver on the opposite side was stood on top of a long dragon monster while another mechanical link dragon was there too. Encasing the entire field was a huge cage that projected an aura of foreboding.

"It is such a shame isn't it? That there isn't a full audience to witness Playmaker's defeat." He witnessed the continuation of the duel with anticipation.

* * *

 **A/N: So, there are a few reasons why this took longer than I wanted it too.**

 **I was busy at School and only finished last Friday**

 **In addition to that, I took a four day trip to Krakow, Poland where I couldn't bring my laptop because of the luggage constraints.**

 **I'd like to ask you readers a question. Despite my disdain for music, I do have a few tracks I like, mainly tracks from the Evillious chronicles. I want to know what you think the music would be for each OC character. I honestly want to know what you think would be the best.**

 **Finally. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following and putting this on your favourites list. I really appreciate it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five: Confrontation.**

The first words that Mammon heard come out of Playmaker's mouth, gave him all he needed to know "Cyberses are gone from my field."

"He sealed away Cyberse." Playmaker mopped some more before coming to a realisation "That's why you didn't play Topologic Bomber Dragon!"

Revolver laughed before replying "That is what happens when you rely on Ignis."

"Ignis?"

"It seems you don't know what Ignis is." Revolver said, intriguing both Playmaker and Mammon "I'll tell you before you lose. Ignis isn't an ordinary Ai."

Mammon whilst shocked had assumed this from the beginning _'After Playmaker got that Ai, I got a new task alongside eliminating Playmaker, truly if that malevolent being was just ordinary it would be of no concern.'_

"Since long ago, there have been tests to create life within the network. But only regular programs were able to be created," Revolver began to explain "They lacked a certain something to be considered a life form."

"What do you mean?" Playmaker asked.

"Free will." Revolver answered bluntly "Even in humans, we don't know where free will is located inside our bodies. But someone created it in a program. He accomplished what God did. In ancient mythology, God gave heaven's forbidden fire to humans. This fire quickly evolved mankind. Modelled after the myth, he named the life form 'Ignis'. However this man wasn't the only one to attempt this feat," Mammon's eyes widened as he realised what Revolver was beginning to talk about. "Another person, one who thought they could play God tried. They attempt to replicate the original results. They did not succeed. It was for one simple reason that they failed. Ignis is AI with free will."

"Free will?" Both Mammon and Playmaker said at the same time. "No way! A program can't have free will!" Playmaker responded, Mammon remained silent.

"I naturally expected that reaction. But it doesn't matter whether you believe this story or not. Ignis created the Cyberse and is trying to conquer the network. We'll do whatever it will take to kill Ignis and the Cyberse!" Revolver declared emphatically.

"Now I'll continue this duel and end you! Here I go, Playmaker! My turn! I draw! Beltlink Wall Dragon's effect." The Dragon behind Revolver lurched forward and had the last light on its face light up "It gains a wall counter during each of our turns."

"Next is Three Burst Blast Dragon's effect. By tributing this card, I special summon a link monster from my graveyard. And I special summon a Dragon from my hand! Twin Triangle Dragon from my graveyard! I special summon Sniffer Dragon from my hand!" The two Dragons appeared beside each other and bared down on Playmaker.

"Sniffer Dragon's effect activates. When it's summoned or special summoned, I add one Sniffer Dragon in my deck to my hand. I summon another Sniffer Dragon!" The duplicate came into being next to the original copy.

"Appear! The future circuit that lights up my path! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least three effect monsters. I set Link 2 Twin Triangle Dragon and two Sniffer Dragons in the Link Markers!" The three Dragon monster transformed into red energy and flew to the link square "Circuit combine! My new wind that pierces through the closed world! Link summon! Appear, Link 4 Borreload Dragon!" A dragon that was covered in sliver amour, had luminous neon green wings and a torso which looked like a revolver appeared on Revolver's field.

Playmaker gritted his teeth "That Dragon…" He though back to an incident that had occurred between the two of them not long ago "From Before! It's his ace monster!"

"Due to Fire Prison's effect, your Cyberse monsters have vanished! Go, Borreload Dragon! Attack Playmaker directly!" The gun barrel in Borreload's chest snapped into action, crackling with purple electricity as it spun round "Charging energy! Varrel mode change!" A canon made its way out of Borreload's mouth and locked onto the helpless Playmaker. "Target, locked on! Anti-glare protection!" A visor dropped down from Revolver's mask. "Final safety removed! Take this! Thunder Varrel canon!" The energy that had gathered in the Borreload's cannon was at last unleashed in al mighty burst.

The blast struck Playmaker head on and blew him away as a massive smoke cloud appeared in the blast radius, it was even strong enough to pierce the walls of the data storm. When the cloud cleared, Playmaker was face down on the ground, his life points tumbling down from 3600 to 600. "Serves you right, Playmaker." Mammon muttered "It is time, that you learned your place."

"I end my turn." Revolver said, looking quite pleased about how the duel was going. When Playmaker still didn't get up Revolver couldn't help but gloat "It seems this duel ended before he ran out of life points."

Playmaker's eyes twitched as he thought back to a certain incident. He remembered the pain, the suffering, every time the robotic voice said _"You lose."_ Every time he struggled back to his feet after every single defeat. Then a moment of salvation came _"Get up."_ A voice called out _"Who is it?"_ He remembers asking it _"Three."_ The voice said _"Think of three things. Three things to live. Three things to go home. Three things to defeat the enemy. By thinking, you can still live."_

' _That's right. Three.'_ He thought _'Three reasons why I must win this duel. 1: To regain those memories. 2: To learn the truth about then and connect all the moments of my life.'_ He opened his eyes and struggled to his feet, shaking all the while _'3: To find that person. If that person is still captured, I must rescue that person!'_

"I can still fight!" Playmaker shouted in defiance to what appeared to be his imminent failure.

"Oh, he got up." Mammon said.

"I failed to erase his fighting spirit." Revolver observed.

"My turn! I draw!" Playmaker began his turn, but he quickly staggered back _'If I don't do something this turn, I'll definitely lose. But what can I do?'_ He then looked down and noticed a blue glow coming out of his duel disk "This is…" A shadowy dragon appeared in Playmaker's thoughts _'The new pulse of the Cyberse inside my deck hasn't vanished yet.'_

He thought back to something Ai had said to him during his speed duel with Revolver _"Is this your link sense? You can sense the presence of the network. Since when?"_

"Since I was young. That's right. I could sense the pulse of the network since then. Cyberse's fire hasn't been extinguished yet! Ai, are you still there? Can you hear me? Answer me, Ai!"

Ai who had previously had its eye closed, suddenly snapped it open 'Playmaker!'

"I know you're there, so lend me your strength! Respond, Cyberses! I activate the field spell, Cynet Universe! Link monsters on my field gain 300 attack points!"

"Whatever you try is pointless. Cyberses are already gone." Both Mammon and Revolver said mimicking the other perfectly.

"You're wrong. Cyberses are still here. I can hear their pulses!" Once again Revolver and Mammon parroted each other in perfect symmetry. Shock was the only expression they could muster.

"Appear! The circuit that leads to the future!"

"What are you going to do?" Revolver questioned.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two monsters! I set Link 3 Decode Talker and Encode Talker in the link markers!"

"You're using your two ace monsters?"

"Circuit combine! Here I go, Revolver! This is the Cyberse's new potential! Appear, Link 4! Firewall Dragon!" The shadowy dragon that had appeared in the back of Playmaker's mind slowly came into the world. It looked like a more pure version of Revolver's Borreload Dragon.

Revolver staggered back "So that's the monster you got from the data storm!" The fire prison card appeared before Revolver it then burst into particles. The cage surrounding the two of them began to disappear into nothingness until it as gone entirely.

Revolver looked around stunned before begrudgingly speaking "When the Cyberses that Fire Prison sealed away all leave the field, Fire Prison is destroyed."

There was a purple light that glowed from Playmaker's disk, Ai had returned "Ai." Playmaker said.

'Huh? Where am I?'

"You're back to being a hostage." Playmaker answered the Ignis' concerns.

'Playmaker… Was I sleeping?'

"Yeah. Deeply."

'You didn't lose, did you?'

"Of course not. But my life is like a candle in the wind."

Ai then caught sight of Playmaker's life points '600 life points? Playmaker, you're in a pinch.'

"You can go back to sleep if you want." Playmaker said.

Ai narrowed its eye 'But the fact that I woke up means…'

"Fire Prison is destroyed." Playmaker finished "Now's the only chance to defeat him! Fire Prison's effect is now gone, so Beltlink Wall Dragon's defence decreases from 2400 to 2100! Due to the field spell Cynet Universe's effect Link monsters on my field gain 300 attack points!" Firewall's attack was raised from 2500 to 2800.

'Whoa! You have an incredible monster! Did you get it during the speed duel via Storm Access?' Ai asked. He then took notice of Borreload Dragon 'Whoa! He has an incredible monster too!'

"Firewall Dragon attacks Beltlink Wall Dragon!" Firewall Dragon screeched, it let its wings out and charged its energy, it formed a purple blast of energy and unleashed it "Go! Tempest attack!"

It struck Revolver's Dragoon and obliterated it, forcing the leader of Hanoi to abort his position on top of the monster. "Beltlink Wall Dragon…"

"The field spell Cynet Universe's effect! I return Encode Talker from my graveyard to my extra deck! I set two cards face down and end my turn!"

"My turn! I draw!" Revolver began to start his turn, however…

"My trap activates!" Playmaker interrupted "Parallel Port Armour! Your cards can't target Firewall Dragon and it can't be destroyed by battle!"

"But I activate a spell card from my hand! Marker Charge! When the Extra Monster Zone has monsters with the same Link number I draw two cards from my deck. I summon Anesthrokket Dragon!" A mechanical dragon with a syringe on top of its head appeared. "I activate a quick-play spell card from my hand!"

Out of the two cards Revolver held out the left hand one disappeared "Squib Draw! I destroy one Rokket monster on my field." Anesthrokket burst into particles "I draw two cards from my deck. From my hand, I activate the field spell, Revolver Boot Sector! I special summon up to two Rokket monsters in my hand in defence position! I special summon Autorokket Dragon and Anesthrokket Dragon!" Autorokket was a bronze Dragon which had a missile on top of its head.

"Due to Revolve Boot Sector's effect, Rokket monsters gain 300 attack and defence points. Borreload Dragon's effect. Once per turn, one monster loses 500 attack and defence points. I use this effect on Autorokket Dragon. Anti-enemy Varret!"

'He lowered his own monster's defence?' Ai questioned the validity of Revolver moves.

"At this moment, Autorokket Dragon's effect! When it is targeted by a Link monster it's destroyed, and one spell or trap card on the field is sent to the graveyard." Autorokket transformed into a ball of orange energy and was loaded into Borreload's barrel "I send your Parallel port armour to the graveyard!" Borreload launched its bullet and Playmaker's trap was no more.

"That effect activates when it is targeted by an effect!" Playmaker said.

"Thank you Playmaker, I wasn't quite sure of the effect myself." Mammon sneered.

'Will he use the other Rokket monsters as Borreload's bullets?' Ai asked.

"Now your Firewall Dragon can be destroyed. Here I go! Borreload Dragon attacks Firewall Dragon!" As the attack went on Revolver declared something else "Borreload's effect! Strange Trigger!" The bullet struck Firewall but it didn't destroy the monster, instead it turned into some glowing ooze.

Firewall then began to glitch startling Ai 'What what what?' The glitch ended and Firewall appeared on Revolver's field 'His incredible Dragon took our Incredible Dragon!'

"That effect takes control of the opponent's monster!"

"Seriously? Do you enjoy stating the obvious, Playmaker?" Mammon sneered again, then smirked "However, seeing your own monster bury you will be payment enough."

"Firewall Dragon, attack Playmaker directly! Tempest attack!" Playmaker now appeared to be staring right at defeat "Your own Cyberse will end you, Playmaker!"

'P-p-playmaker!' Ai stuttered.

"I know! I activate the trap, Cynet Refresh! When a Cyberse monster attacks, all monsters in the main monster zone are destroyed!"

Revolver grunted as Firewall and Anesthrokket were destroyed "You avoided Firewall's attack. I set one card. But my field's defence is impenetrable. When a battle or effect destroys Anesthrokket and sends it to the graveyard I can special summon a different Rokket from my deck at the end of the turn. And the destroyed Autorokket has the same effect. I special summon two copies of Magnarokket Dragon." Magnarokket was a blue armour plated dragon. "Due to the field spell Revolver Boot Sector's effect, Rokket monsters gain 300 attack and defence points." Both the Magnarokkets defence points were raised to 1500

'Whoa! He resurrected two of his monsters!'

"Due to Cynet Refresh's effect I special summon a Cyberse Link monster from my graveyard that this card destroyed!" Out of the purple vortex came "Resurrect, Firewall Dragon! Due to Cynet universe's effect, the resurrected Firewall Dragon gains 300 attack points. I activate the trap, Recoded Alive! I banish Decode Talker from my graveyard. Then I special summon a monster with 'Code Talker' in its name from my extra deck! Come, Encode Talker! Encode Talker also gains 300 attack because of Cynet universe's effect."

"Encode Talker…" Mammon muttered "That's the monster he used to take out Blue Angel."

"The real fight is only getting started!" Playmaker declared "Firewall Dragon's effect! For every monster that is linked to this card a monster on the field or in the graveyard is returned to the owner's hand. One monster is linked to Firewall. Emergency escape!"

"I see. That's a powerful effect. But monster effects can't target Borreload Dragon."

Ai moaned 'Aww really? That's the monster I want to get rid of!"

Begrudgingly Playmaker chose another card "I return Magnarokket Dragon to your hand."

Revolver smirked "But Magnarokket's effect now activates! When a link monster's effect targets it, I can destroy it. Then I send one monster on the field to the graveyard. I send Firewall to the graveyard!"

Playmaker took the time to think through his next move _'Magnarokket's effect removes monsters.'_

He was interrupted by Ai 'Hey! If you lose Firewall…"

"I know! I banish Cynet Refresh from my graveyard to activate its effect! Card effects can't affect my monsters this turn." A blue barrier surrounded Firewall protecting it against the ensuing blast from Borreload.

"You prevented Firewall's destruction." Revolver stated and at this point Mammon was practically pulling his hair out "Jesus Christ! Is everyone stating the obvious today?!"

He was too busy fuming over this matter to pay attention to Revolver's next move "But I activate Magnarokket's other effect! When a battle or an effect destroys it, at the end of the turn I special summon a different Rokket from my deck." Another copy of Anesthrokket came to the field "I end my turn."

'Phew! He finally ended his turn.' Ai breathed a sigh of relief.

Calming down, Mammon took the time to scan the field _'So he managed to destroy Fire Prison and dodged Borreload's effect and attack, but still he is hanging on desperately, he's going to have to pull something out of the bag if he's to win. Well… Do you think you can do it? Playmaker.'_

'Revolver is undamaged, while we have only 600 life points. And no cards in our hand! Everything will depend on this draw.' Ai pointed out.

"I've done everything I can in order to battle him. And built a deck to defeat him. For this one moment, I know my deck will respond. This draw is my destiny draw! My turn! I draw!" Playmaker put every last ounce of his strength it the draw to turn this duel around "Yes! This card will do! From my hand, I activate the continuous spell, Battle Buffer! As long as Encode and Firewall are linked to each other Anesthrokket Dragon and Magnarokket Dragon's effects are sealed!" Two blasts launched from that card greyed out the colouring of the two mechanical dragons.

'All right! Now they can't become Borreload's bullets!' Ai said happily 'Let's go, Playmaker!'

"Battle! Firewall Dragon attacks Borreload Dragon!"

"You're attacking Borreload Dragon even though Firewall Dragon has lower attack?" Revolver questioned.

"Encode Talker's effect! Monsters linked to it aren't destroyed in battle nor do I take damage." Playmaker replied

"What are you thinking?" Revolver said still confused.

'It means our strategy isn't over yet!' Ai said coolly, causing both Mammon and Revolver to recoil in shock.

"Go, Firewall Dragon! Tempest attack!" Firewall's attack struck Borreload and as expected it had no effect as Revolver's Link monster "Encode's additional effect activates! Firewall gains attack equal to Borreload's attack!"

"Is there any point in raising Firewall's attack after it has attacked?"

'There is!'

"Battle Buffer's effect! I place one battle buffer counter on this card. Cyberse Link monster on my field gain 700 attack points per counter." This effect raised Encode's attack to 3300 while Firewall's went up to 6500.

'Encode Talker now has more attack than Borreload Dragon!' Ai said.

"I see. That's what you were going for." Revolver said knowingly.

"Go, Encode Talker! Attack Borreload Dragon! Final Encode!" Encode went to strike Borreload but.

"Borreload Dragon's effect! Anti-enemy varrett! Once per turn, one monster on the field loses 500attack and defence points. This effect can activate on your turn. And you can't activate a card to counter this effect."

'No way!'

"Naturally, I'm reducing Encode Talker's attack!" Borreload's blast hit Encode and the link monsters attack went tumbling down to 2800 "Strike back, Borreload!" The attack on Encode resulted in the termination of the monster and Playmaker's life points going down to a mere 400.

'Encode Talker was destroyed!' Ai shouted, fearfully.

"But now, Battle Buffer's effect! I place one battle buffer counter. Firewall's attack increases once again" Playmaker said, still refusing to give up.

"But your monsters aren't linked to each other anymore." Revolver smirked "So Battle Buffer can't seal away effects. Anesthrokket and Magnarokket Dragon's effects return."

' _Well it seems like you were unable to win. You can't attack anymore, and next turn will be your glorious defeat.'_ Mammon thought. _'Since Battle Buffer is no longer sealing effects next turn Revolver can use Magnarokket's effect to remove Firewall, leaving you with no way to stop his attack.'_

"It seems this match is over." Revolver said smugly "You can't attack anymore this turn."

"Are you sure about that?" Playmaker commented.

"What?"

'You're going for it?' Ai asked its owner.

"Since Borreload's effect is now over, I don't have to worry about Magnarokket's effect. This is my only chance to beat him!" Playmaker said with determination.

'Don't mess up!' Ai snarked.

"You don't need to tell me!" Playmaker said harshly. "Here I go. I banish Recoded Alive from my graveyard to activate its effect!"

"A trap from the graveyard?" Revolver said.

"Resurrect, Decode Talker! Decode Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster that's linked to it! Your Borreload is linked to it! Power integration!" Decode's attack went from 2300 to 2800.

'There's still more! Due to Cynet Universe's effect Decode Talker gains 300 attack points!' Ai started.

"And the continuous spell Battle Buffer's effect! Cyberse Link monsters gain 700 attack per counter! Decode gains 1400 attack!" Playmaker finished.

'Good! It'll work this time!'

"Decode Talker! Attack Borreload! Decode end!" Playmaker declared.

"I activate the trap, Borrel Refrigeration!" Revolver interrupted "By tributing Anesthrokket, I equip this card on Borreload. Borreload can now select one monster on my field. That monster can't be destroyed in battle or by effects. I select Magnarokket, of course! Magnarokket's effect! When a link monster's effect targets it, I can destroy it. Then I send one monster on the field to the graveyard! I send Decode Talker to the graveyard!" Decode was blow away and sucked into the waiting purple vortex.

"It's really over this time, Playmaker." Revolver said confidently "Only Firewall Dragon remains on your field. It's powered up, but it already finished attacking. You have no cards in your hand and only 400 life points. You'll lose on my next turn!"

"No, I won't lose." Playmaker started "I have three reasons why I must defeat you! 1: I'll defeat you and uncover the truth about what happened ten years ago!" Revolver looked startled, Playmaker continued on without any regard "2: I'll regain the time that I lost! 3: I'll save my friend that saved me!"

Mammon couldn't help but be amused _'Playmaker, that friend, that voice both you and Gumina heard, they may very well be the one you least suspect.'_

"Ten years ago… Three things…" Revolver said, still looking a bit uneasy "You're the one from the incident ten years ago?"

Playmaker closed his eyes "That's right. I'm that emissary of revenge!" He opened his eyes wide and Revolver gritted his teeth.

"You're a fool, Playmaker. To help SOL Technologies without knowing the truth!"

Playmaker clenched his fist "There's only one thing I must do. I'll crush the Knights of Hanoi and learn everything!"

Revolver staggered back as to did Mammon _'I've already told you before Playmaker. To take out all of Hanoi by yourself? First of all that's impossible, second if you think you'll defeat me you've got another thing coming. Finally, you've yet to witness the true power of Hanoi!'_

"I activate Parallel Port Armour's effect from the graveyard! I can activate it by banishing this card and two Link monsters from my graveyard! My Link monster can battle twice this turn!"

"What? Firewall can attack again?"

"No way!" Mammon involuntarily shouted.

'Go, Playmaker!'

"Firewall attacks! Tempest attack!"

As the attack reached Borreload, Ai remained Revolver of something 'Borreload can't be destroyed but you still take the damage!'

The powerful blast charged head on into Revolver's monster, completely and utterly annihilating the Link monster, the blast was strong enough to knock Revolver off his feet and send him careening into the rocks behind him. His life points hitting zero.

Mammon was totally stunned "Impossible…There's no way that just happened… Playmaker… Won…"

Revolver looked absolutely livid, Playmaker spoke up "As promised, I'll take the information you have!"

Suddenly there was a bright purple light then shadows began to pour out of Playmaker's disk and Ai came out, morphing into a hideous creature 'I'll eat it up!' Ai then lunged at Revolver causing the leader to try and defend himself, causing the Ignis to tear its teeth into his right arm 'I'll eat up everything!' Just as Ai was about to go in for a second strike, there was a burst of lighting acting as a wall which halted the Ignis' advance.

"What?"

"Father!" Revolver said as a green beam lifted him away to safety.

"Interference from the outside." Playmaker growled. "Ai! Return!" Reluctantly the Ignis retreated back into Playmaker's disk. 'Damn!' The wall vanished just as Ai returned 'Hey! Trying to escape?'

Holding the fragments of what was previously his right arm, Revolver replied "I keep my promises." A card appeared and Revolver threw it at Playmaker's disk "Take this! It's the removal program. Playmaker! The wind didn't blow for me today. But as long as you have that Ai, this duel was only the start. We will meet again." Revolver then vanished, leaving Playmaker and Mammon behind.

'Aww! He escaped! We were so close!'

"Revolver…" Playmaker said.

"Playmaker… Playmaker…" Mammon looked as if he was about to burst a blood vessel "PLAYMAKER!"

Playmaker turned and locked eyes with the frenzied hunter, Ai was the first to comment 'Eh Heheheh, what do you think of us now _Mammon?_ Not so though now that your leader's bitten the dust!'

Mammon clenched his fist "Maniac, that's the only word I can find to describe you Playmaker. As for the Ignis, demon is a word that comes to mind. You may have won this battle but as Revolver and I have said, the next time either of us meet you, we'll be sure to win. At all costs!"

Playmaker watched in silence as Mammon vanished from the platform, presumably having either logged out or retreated to Hanoi's base, Ai felt the need to speak again 'What's that creep's deal? He speaks exactly like Revolver, it's like they're of the same mind.'

The raging Data storm began to collapse in on itself, the platforms started to disintegrate and eventually the storm itself dissipated into nothingness. Soon after Playmaker reappeared in the church, as too did Colt having successfully retrieved Ghost girl.

Akira and Zitor who had been unable to see the Master duel, both looked at each other as Playmaker approached "Playmaker!" Akira said with Playmaker approaching Blue Angel's resting place.

"This is the removal program." He said bluntly, raising his hand over her body "With this, she'll be…" His hand turned green and data commenced to flow into Blue Angel's body. Then her head twitched slightly up, she smiled weakly before her body vanished into blue pixels.

"Where's Aoi?" Akira asked.

"It seems she was able to log out." Colt replied.

"That means…"

Colt nodded "You should go to her." He turned off "I've got to deal with her, so I'll see you later." Colt logged off, taking Ghost girl with him.

"Okay!" Akira said happily "Playmaker!" He went to say but all he saw was Playmaker walking away.

"Oh, going so soon?" Zitor said, Playmaker didn't reply as he too logged out of the system "How rude." The head of development moaned.

' _Playmaker. Thank you.'_

 **(Hanoi)**

Revolver materialised into the safe haven of the base, although his arm was still gone. "Let your guard down?" Kogami's voice came as he too materialised into the base "It's not like you. Or were you shaken when he talked about ten years ago?"

"I'm sorry, father." Red data began to pull itself together and formed into a new arm for Revolver "But next time, I promise!" He clenched his fist.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. I was able to get useful data from the duel. But if we can't acquire that Ignis, I must proceed with the final plan. I'll be making preparations."

Revolver bowed "Understood." Kogami vanished and Revolver spoke aloud "Three things… That speech pattern…" Suddenly, something clicked in his head and he came to a conclusion he didn't want to be true "Playmaker… Are you..?"

* * *

 **(Real World) (Night Time)**

Akira came racing out of the SOL Technologies building, only to be surprised to see his car with the back door open, with the guard/chauffeur standing nearby "Isomaki?" He said coming closer "What are you doing here?"

"I received an anonymous tip." Isomaki responded "Please get in. I'll take you to the hospital."

"Must be Nem." He wondered aloud "Thanks."

Elsewhere Yusaku staggered limply out of the access room in the back of Shoichi's van "Yusaku!" Shoichi caught the blue haired boy as he fell down "What happened? Did you win? Did you beat Revolver?"

"Yeah, to the last two." Yusaku etched out "How's Aoi Zaizen?" He was seemingly unconcerned about his own state.

Having arrived at the hospital, Akira sprinted down the corridors not caring about the gaping mouths of the numerous doctors "Aoi!" He said bursting into the room "Aoi! Aoi!"

"Brother…" Aoi muttered as her eyes fluttered open.

"Aoi!"

"Brother, I'm sorry." Aoi said.

"It's fine." Akira said shocking her "You don't have to say anything. Just rest." Aoi smiled then tried to go sleep but Akira continued "Thank goodness." Looking she could see tears stream down Akira's face "Truly."

"She's okay." Shoichi said to Yusaku, having hacked into the hospital's cameras to witness the reunion.

'Huh?' Ai said 'He fell asleep. How lazy.' Sure enough Yusaku was fast asleep in his chair.

Shoichi laughed looking at Yusaku "Heroes need rest too."

'You think he's a hero?' Ai scoffed 'A hero is someone like me! Smart and wonderful and cool-' Ai was interrupted by Shoichi placing his hand on the top of the disk bring it closer to him 'What are you doing?'

"I'm going to analyse the program you ate." Shoichi answered.

'What? You're going to look at my private parts? You're a pervert.' Ai said, narrowing its eye.

"To tell you the truth, I don't need to do this. If you tell me what program you ate." Shoichi making the Ai slightly nervous.

'It's… Umm… It's…'

"It was pointless to ask."

'You're no fun.' Ai whinged.

* * *

Meanwhile covered by the darkness of his room, with the only light being that of the glare of his computer, leaned back in his chair Sateriasis still couldn't believe what he had seen unfold before his eyes. For Revolver to lose meant that something went seriously wrong. Even though he tried to take his mind off it, it still remained the only thing he could think about _'Playmaker, there are no words to describe how much I hate you.'_ He turned to his computer _'Once I expose your identity, I'll show you no mercy.'_

At this moment his phone rang, he quickly answered it "Hello… Yes, I am… Wait, really? Oh, alright then. I'll see you soon." With that he disconnected the call and headed out the door

Roughly twenty minutes and one near collapse from a combination of sleep deprivation and copious amounts of stairs/hills, Sateriasis had finally reached the door of the house that stood on the cliff overlooking Stardust Road.

Just as he was about to keel over for the second, the door opened before him revealing the real life Revolver "Sateriasis. Come in."

Sateriasis followed Revolver into what could be consider more of a manor than a house. They stopped in the room which had a mechanical life support system that contained within it a comatose body. Revolver stopped by the window, looking out gave him a view of the vast ocean beneath.

Sateriasis approached and stood beside him "Why did you want to speak to me, Revolver?"

"Ryoken." Hanoi's leader responded, correcting Hanoi's hunter.

"What?" Sateriasis said, somewhat confused

"Last time we meet each other in real life, you asked me my name. It's Ryoken." Was the given explanation.

"Why'd you call me here?" Sateriasis repeated, not giving up on the original topic.

Ryoken placed his hand on the glass and looked out to the sea "Not going to let the topic slip by that easily are you?"

Sateriasis grinned "It was one of the things my father taught me, when he was still around."

"I see. The news I have to give you is that…" Ryoken struggled to get the words out of mouth "You're being… Relieved of your contract with Hanoi." Each word was a betrayal to the past three years of work Sateriasis had given.

"Wait, what? Relieved?" Sateriasis just couldn't comprehend this situation, this was the man who had found him in his moment of hopeless, the one had reached out to him when no one else would, now he too was leaving him alone.

Ryoken couldn't bring himself to look at the devastated face of the person beside him "That's right. Relieved. Your services are no longer required."

He then noticed Sateriasis place his hand on the window too, it was trembling bringing back memories of the distressed thirteen year old of years past "Please. Please don't leave me alone."

Sateriasis continued to beg but there was a form of anger behind the words "This can't be about my failure with Playmaker. If so then you would've let me go then. Tell me what the issue is, I can fix this!"

"Sateriasis, this is something that only I can rectify." Ryoken explained.

"Ah. So that's what it's about. Your biggest regret, I guess you just have a penchant for giving people hope." Sateriasis said, knowingly "After all, that person isn't the only one you helped."

"That doesn't change my mind."

"It wasn't meant to do so, I'm just stating the facts." Sateriasis maintained the mixture of desperation and anger in his voice. "I'm asking you as my contractor, to allow me to help you rectify this issue."

"Humph." Ryoken grunted "My statement still remains the same, I am no longer your contractor and that contract you have with us is now null and void."

Sateriasis was trying to keep a tight lid on his emotions as they threatened to spill over "Still! Even if I'm not under contract, I can still assist you. Do the last few years mean nothing to you?!"

Ryoken dropped his hand from the window "They do and believe me when I say it was a difficult conclusion to come to, but this is the path that must be taken."

It was no longer possible for the purple haired teen to prevent his emotions from flowing out, it started with the tears rolling down his pale cheeks. The formerly calculating façade of Sateriasis had been torn to shreds and revealed deep down he was still the distressed lonely thirteen year old. "I hate to repeat myself but you and Hanoi are all I have left. Inferno ripped my childhood away from me, my father was killed by SOL because he sought the truth and Gumina lost her livelihood to the Cyberse. When we first met I told you my loyalty would be undying. You saved me from myself and for that I will follow you."

It took what felt like an eternity to Sateriasis for Ryoken to respond "I knew it wouldn't be that easy to make you leave. It seems like you truly are devoted to Hanoi and for that I applaud you." Ryoken extended his hand out to Sateriasis causing the hunter's tears to cease "Let me ask you one question before we continue. Sateriasis Marlon, are you willing to give everything to see Hanoi's plan come to fruition?"

"Indeed I am, after all. Sin is truly my only consideration, in my corrupted sense of judgment." Sateriasis said, bowing respectfully. "You have my word and honour as a hunter, _Master_ Revolver."

There was a faint glow that worked its way into the room, looking out Sateriasis saw the ocean illuminate into a neon blue colour leaving him awestruck "It's beautiful."

"That's the name sake of this place, the stardust road. Periodically the luminescent plankton will align perfectly to create this phenomenon." Ryoken said "Many a time, it has guided me through the difficult choices I've made."

"I guess it is here for me this time," Sateriasis expression turned irate "I'll make those wretches and scoundrels at SOL pay for everyone they've wronged."

Ryoken placed a hand on his opposite number's shoulder "And that you will accomplish. But you're not the only one who wishes that." He motioned Sateriasis over to the life support machine.

"What's this?" Sateriasis said "And who's that in it?"

"Years ago, my father was a researcher at SOL. Without the authorisation of the executives he executed an experiment with the help of two of his trusted assistants, six children were kidnapped and locked into rooms, they were forced to duel to survive, win and they could eat, lose and they got nothing."

"Wait, you don't mean that this was-? And he is-?"

Ryoken nodded "Indeed. This was the lost incident and the experiment my father supervised was the Hanoi Project. Father is the one residing in the machine. If you wish to know, in the aftermath of the project he spent the next three years imprisoned by SOL, then one day he came back but he wasn't the same. SOL had infected him in an attempt to silence him, I was able to remove the virus and restore his consciousness in the virtual world. But not here and thus you see him as he is now in the real world."

"Oh, so he's the one I see you talking too occasionally and stalking the base." Sateriasis said, remembering his brief encounters with the founder.

He then turned off and headed for the door "I'll see you online tomorrow," the hunter yawned "I think days of not properly sleeping are starting to have an effect. Goodbye."

* * *

" _It seems you don't know what Ignis is."_ Even in his sleep, Yusaku couldn't stop thinking about what Revolver had said. Was it really possibly for an Ai, a lifeless machine to have free will? It just didn't seem like a logical explanation _"Ignis isn't a regular Ai."_

Then there was the issue of the incidents Revolver mentioned _"Since long ago, there have been tests to create life within the network. But only regular programs were able to be created._ _But someone created it in a program. He accomplished what God did. In ancient mythology, God gave heaven's forbidden fire to humans. This fire quickly evolved mankind. Modelled after the myth, he named the life form 'Ignis'"_ This part was clearly referencing the Hanoi project but the second part still remained obscured in mystery _"Another person, one who thought they could play God tried. They attempt to replicate the original results. They did not succeed. It was for one simple reason that they failed."_

Next was the real kicker _"They lacked a certain something to be considered a life form."_

Yusaku awoke with jump "I…"

"You're awake." Shoichi said "I'm almost done analysing Ai's data."

"Did you learn anything?" Yusaku asked, still a bit jumpy from reminiscing.

"About what?" Shoichi replied, noticing how on edge Yusaku really was. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Yusaku tugged at his collar before responding "During my duel with Revolver, he mentioned something about Ai."

He paused then spoke again "He said that Ai was a special type, an Ignis. According to him Ignis are Ai with free will." Much like Yusaku when he first heard it, Shoichi's mouth feel agape

"There's no way that's possible. A program can't have free will." Shoichi came to exactly the same conclusion as Yusaku did "It's just a bunch of 1s and 0s."

"Revolver said that free will equals life." Yusaku said "That means this thing is alive. That's why the knights of Hanoi desperately want him."

"But how can you prove he's alive? It's not like he has a beating heart." Shoichi said, trying to make sense of the situation.

'Hey, what are you talking about?" Ai said, deciding to weigh in on the conversation.

"We're discussing whether you are alive or not." Shoichi answered back.

'Oh, I get it now." Ai narrowing his eye 'So that's what Revolver was talking about when I was asleep. Of course I'm alive! I can do this!' He then started to roll his eye around the disk

"Prove it." Neither Yusaku nor Shoichi were impressed.

'You'll learn soon enough.' Ai muttered cryptically just as one of the screens showed the outline of an image drowned out by the static.

"What's this?" Yusaku asked "Is it image data?"

"This program is incomprehensible." Shoichi remarked "It can't be properly analysed."

'That's because- Do you want me to tell you? I've already finished analysing it.'

Yusaku looked sternly at the Ignis "Don't be arrogant." He said harshly "Or I will disassemble your program."

'Now now. Don't be impatient. I don't know if I should show it to humans…But you're special! You should thank me.' With that Ai vanished from Yusaku's disk and a bright light radiated out, Yusaku and Shoichi watched in shock as two black limbs with purple highlights stretched out and grasped the edges of the disk, they started to tug the edges soon what appeared to be a massive a body emerged out of it, eyes glowing a bright orange as the light disappeared.

'Ta da!' Turns out Ai just know how to make an entrance as in actuality his body was rather scrawny looking 'How's this! This my true form! I retrieved my body's program from the Knights of Hanoi!' He looked to see Yusaku and Shoichi staring blankly at him 'Well? I'm cute and cool, right?'

"Is that it?" Yusaku was remarkably unimpressed.

"You don't remember anything else?"

Ai paused for a minute then shook his head "No. The program I ate only contained my body."

There was a momentary pause as the three looked at one another then Shoichi and Yusaku totally ignored Ai, returning to work "Recheck and see if we overlooked anything."

"Yeah."

'Hey hey hey! Wait a second! No reaction after seeing this body? Like surprise? Or being happy for me?' Ai grew desperate to gain their attention even for a second 'C'mon! Look at me!'

* * *

 **(SOL Technologies)**

"Lucifinia, you understand why we called you here?" The virtual chessboard was laid out again, this time it was the head of development's turn to face the three executives. It was Bishop that initiated the conversation.

"Yes, sir." Zitor bowed respectfully, "I let that situation grow out of hand and for that I am deeply sorry."

Knight spoke next "We provided you with that program so that you could control Zaizen and his partners."

"If it weren't for the intervention of Mammon, Ghost girl possibly could've infiltrated the data storm and relayed the duel of Playmaker and Revolver." Rook stated, making Zitor loosen his tie.

"I highly doubt that anything of note came up in that duel though." Despite his body language, Zitor's voice didn't show any show any signs of cracking under pressure.

But Bishop dropped a dagger "You're wrong. During the duel the incident of ten years ago came up, had Mammon not prevented the recording Zaizen would've learned about the project and become curious."

Zitor held his chin in thought, regaining some of his lost composure "I'm truly sorry for allowing this to devolve so far, however that doesn't mean this situation can't be used to benefit SOL."

"What do you mean?" Knight asked

"It's simply really. It relies on three things." Zitor placed his hands in his pockets and smirked "One: Who you replace Zaizen with, if it is a predictable scoundrel then you should have no issue controlling them. Zaizen will always stick his nose in places it isn't welcome. Two: Thanks to what you told me, I now have only a select few candidates for the real identity of Playmaker. Three: If Playmaker is related to that incident of ten years prior, then he will no doubt eventually look for a way into the databank to collect the information, there the Master of the Hellish Yard will be to guard it." He finished off resolutely.

Bishop glowed blue again "We're putting our faith in you Lucifinia. Do not fail us."

The head of development bowed again "You needn't worry about that sir, after all I simply won't allow myself to do so." With that he left the room but the board didn't dissipate.

"How about Kitamura for Zaizen's successor?" Knight suggested. "Like what Lucifinia said, he's ambitious. If we entice him with a promotion he'll happily accept."

"He's so predictable." Rook scoffed, almost laughing "Those kinds of pieces are good pieces."

* * *

 **A/N: So I got this out much earlier than expected. I honestly just had the drive to write more of this since I was having fun.**

 **Now it is time for the question of the chapter: What is your opinion on the main OC characters so far? This includes Personality, dueling style and the history.**

 **I'm thinking of allowing OCs from you readers. But I'll need to go over the parameters before I make any official decision.**

 **With that I'm done because I'm posting this at midnight and need to get to sleep.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: The Sullied Duelist**

 **(Next Day)**

"Y'know out of all the times I've passed this place, I've never once noticed this place. Are you new here?" The person asking the question was Colt and the person it was directed was Shoichi, who was currently manning the production line whilst Yusaku sat on a chair nearby eating silently.

"Just set up. Welcome." Shoichi answered "What would you like?"

"Two coffees and two regular hotdogs," Colt replied "I'm buying for a friend as well. She's recovering from an incident and sent me out."

Shoichi nodded "Certainly. I hope your friend gets better soon."

Colt relaxed and smiled slightly "Yeah. She tends to get herself into those kind of situations, I've had to bail her out on numerous occasions."

As time passed on Colt asked Shoichi a question "Hey, if you're set up here does that mean you're a fan of Charisma duelists and Link VRAINS?"

"Well of course!" Shoichi said, making sure to get the other side of the frankfurters grilled right "Playmaker is the one everyone is talking about at the moment."

Colt's face soured momentarily at the mere mention of Yusaku's avatar "Playmaker, the mysterious duelist and proclaimed hero of VRAINS who showed up all of a sudden to battle the knights of Hanoi." Yusaku's interest peaked as soon as he heard his avatar mentioned, he listened closely to what Colt had to say next "He's not one of my personal favourites but I can commend him for saving the network."

"Who are you a fan of then?"

It took Colt a while to think of answer "Even though she lost against Playmaker, Blue Angel is still my number one. I'd like to see them duel again someday, maybe that time she won't have a berserk episode." After his duel with Superbia, Colt had been told what happened to her by Akira.

"Here you go." Shoichi handed over the order and as Colt received it, he noticed something on the long haired male's arm "Say, are you a duelist too?"

For a brief second Colt was flustered but he hid it quickly "Yes I am. I dabble in it occasionally but my friend is far more invested." He laughed "She thinks she can beat Playmaker, so I wouldn't be surprised if she were to challenge him soon." He walked away hastily and shouted back "I'll be sure to return if it's any good!"

As soon as Colt had left Yusaku came up to Shoichi "So he goes into Link VRAINS and so does this alleged friend of his. He also doesn't seem to like Playmaker for some reason. What do you make of him, Yusaku?"

Yusaku stared off to where Colt disappeared "Whilst he doesn't appear to be a fan of Playmaker, he also doesn't seem to like the Knights of Hanoi either. Meaning that if he does have a role, it is likely with SOL Technologies."

About half an hour later, Colt reached the apartment block both he and Emma lived in, he knocked on the door belong to her room but didn't expect a reply "Bessho, I'm here." Not even waiting for a second he barged in to see Emma sprawled out on the couch with her hair up.

She turned and smiled "Ah, Shaytan. Nice to see you. Did you get what I wanted?"

Colt placed himself on the couch, taking his order out then handing the bag over "I'm not doing this again y'know. Consider this a special occasion." He then took one look at the hot dog and frowned "Do you have any ketchup?"

Emma stared blankly at her de facto partner "No. I don't think so."

"What a sad miserable world you must live in Bessho." Colt shook his head and bit into it anyway "If you ask me, Ketchup makes everything taste unequivocally better." Turns out Colt wasn't exactly the most well-mannered eater as pieces of meat flew out as he spoke.

' _Ugh!'_ Emma thought repulsed, shielding her line of sight as Colt wolfed down the hot dog in roughly eight seconds flat proceeding then to throw the wrapper on the floor. In order to take her mind off of her partner's less than desirable eating habits she grabbed her laptop and began to work through a lead she'd obtained.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Colt poked his head over to see a massive amount of code on the screen.

"I'm just working on a lead I obtained from my previous work partner." Emma said, trying her best not to burst a blood vessel when think backing to what Mammon had told her in the moments after their tête-à-tête.

* * *

" _Before we part our separate ways Ghost girl, I've got something I'd like you to look into."_ Mammon looked deadly serious and even in her weakened state Ghost girl could feel the almost murderous aura that the blue haired male emanated _"Hidden deep within the SOL technologies databank there is information about two incidents that happened ten years ago. In one of those incidents, one of the victims was Playmaker himself. Surely if you consider yourself a capable 'Treasure Hunter' then there is no doubt that creating a backdoor and infiltrating it won't be an issue."_ He then laughed dryly _"Plus, if you wish to duel Playmaker I can think of no other way but to entice him with access to said data bank"_

After that her memory went blank and the next thing she knew Colt was standing over her, shaking her awake.

* * *

"He says that if I want Playmaker to come out of hiding, I'll have to bait him out." Emma said "The place he told me to search was the SOL Technologies' data bank."

Colt raised an eyebrow knowing full well that Mammon was the person in question "And you're listening to him?"

His concerns however were waved off "Not exactly. Why do you take jobs from SOL Technologies, Shaytan?"

"I don't have to answer that question." Colt stuck his nose in the nose in the air and crossed his arms.

Choosing to ignore the cantankerous Colt, Emma gave her reason "For me it is simple, the more connections I make, the more I can acquire. Plus I've just learned some _very_ interesting information. What do you know of the two incidents ten years ago?"

Upon the mere mention of the Inferno and Hanoi projects Colt paled "No. I don't have any knowledge of Hanoi or Inferno." When he heard Emma laugh he realised the fatal mistake he made "Shit…"

But just as he dug his own grave, a lifeline was thrown in the form of his phone ringing. He snapped it to his ear "Yes…I understand…I'll be right there." He shut off the connection and smirked "Sorry Bessho, it seems I'll have to cut this short. My presence is required elsewhere. Goodbye!" Colt bolted straight out the door and didn't look back.

* * *

Akira waited patiently for Colt to arrive, he looked out across to the stardust road behind him. It was a real shame that he often missed the true beauty of the sea that was only revealed at night. But family and work came first, it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

The sound of footsteps brought his attention back to reality "Zaizen I'm here." Colt panted having sprinted his way here "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"First of all, how's Emma?" Akira asked, making Colt go back to his pissed off attitude.

"She's fine." Colt grunted.

"That's good."

"Anything else?"

"Are you aware of what happened at SOL recently?" Akira questioned.

Colt leant on the wall and gazed across to the rest of the city "Yes I am. You lost your position as security manager to one of the many scoundrels SOL has. Even though you protected the network you were still demoted."

"Indeed." Akira closed his eyes, he still didn't have much of an idea why he was demoted in the first place but he had to assume that it was to do with the recent Playmaker situation and his failure to capture the hacker. "Still I got what I wanted from that situation, Aoi regained consciousness I have no regrets at all."

His contractor smirked "I heard that the replacement was your former boss, Kitamura. What's he like?"

"I believe he created a duelist army that used Ai that and he's just another one of Lucifinia's puppets." Akira said somewhat spiteful.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the SOL Technologies building, Kitamura happened to be a man with black hair and purple highlights along with a rather large nose wearing a business suit who was shouting down towards his workers "What are you doing?! Do you know how far behind the project is?!" He leaned forward and clutched the head of a worker "If you get any further behind, I'll cut your salary by 50%! We must protect Link VRAINS from hackers! I'll create an Ai duelist army and crush the hackers!" He closed his fist as a laughing voice entered his ears.

He turned around to see Zitor waltzing into the room looking awful pleased with himself "Ah! Mr Lucifinia! So nice to see you." Kitamura gained a very sycophantic tone.

"I trust things are going well in here." Zitor grinned "You do now I won't tolerate any form of failure," he clenched his fist "my system's survival is dependent on you as security manager keeping it safe from the undesirables. Zaizen never properly understood his role, I'm sure you do."

Kitamura rubbed his hands together "Oh yes!" However in his thoughts he was thinking something else entirely and his face showed it on full display _'You idiot Lucifinia, all you're good for is for a link to the higher ups as they seem to trust you for some reason. Soon I'll be promoted once again!'_

"Heh." Zitor walked out almost as abruptly as he had had entered "I'll be watching." He called back. "Oh and by the by, you may want to wipe that nose of yours. It's looking awful brown."

 **(Back with Colt and Akira)**

"He'll do anything to deliver a result." Akira said.

"That can be both a positive and negative thing. But judging from the way you talked about him, it seems like he is certainly in the negative column" Colt shrugged "I suppose you could say that about the majority of people who work at companies like SOL."

Not getting a reply Colt spoke once more "By the way, when I was talking to Bessho she told me that she had a "very interesting" lead."

"What?" Akira staring Colt dead in the eyes.

"About two incidents that happened ten years ago." Colt stated bluntly.

"You, don't mean?"

Colt nodded "Yes I do mean it. One of those incidents as I said before was the Inferno project, the one I was a victim of. The other one was one called the Hanoi project."

"Where'd she learn about those?"

There was momentary pause as Colt looked unsure of himself before he finally came to the decision to tell Akira "It was Mammon. She learnt it from him. He told her that the information was within the SOL Technologies and said that if she was to create a back door she'd be able to access the data in question."

"Nem. I have something to ask of you."

"Yeah? What do you require?"

* * *

"Take a look at this." Shoichi said as Yusaku entered the back room, on the screen before him was a message sent by Ghost girl that rather than being a coherent worded one it was a garbled mess of code and symbols.

"From Ghost girl?" Yusaku asked.

"She sent a message on a popular hacking forum." Shoichi explained

"You know her?"

"No, but during your speed duel against Revolver she tried to follow you two only to be stopped by Mammon, the feed became corrupted and I had to eradicate a virus to get it back. I assume she copied the source code from one of the programs I created for you to create a program I would notice." Shoichi came to the only logical conclusion plausible.

"I see."

"She's demanding to duel Playmaker. If she wins, she gets Playmaker's Ai."

'What? You must be kidding!' Ai jumped out doing everything short of begging 'Playmaker, you won't do something that dangerous. Right?'

"I accept." Yusaku shocked the Ignis "It says what she is offering in return. The backdoor to SOL Technologies' data bank."

'What?!' Ai nearly jumped out of the disk 'There's really a backdoor?'

"That's what it says."

'It's a lie.' Ai said defiantly.

"No. Her hacking skills are first class. She sent a portion of the data, and it looks real."

Yusaku paused for thought before replying "Reply to Ghost girl that I'll duel her."

"Okay."

Still lying on her sofa but having now transitioned to her back, Emma held her phone in her hand waiting for Playmaker to respond _'Who are you in this city, Playmaker.'_ When the screen light up, she smirked "He answered."

She stood up "Into the VRAINS!"

"She's here." Shoichi said.

"Ghost girl?"

"Yeah. It's definitely her."

'You're really going to duel her?' Ai was still uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"She might have set up a trap again…" Shoichi said concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that. However," Yusaku began by using what could only be considered as his mantra of sorts "1: In her message, I sense Ghost girl's determination, despite her weaknesses. 2: There must be secret information about Hanoi in SOL Technologies' data bank 3: I'll learn the truth about what happened ten years ago." The door closed and Yusaku after loading his deck was ready to dive into VRAINS.

* * *

 **(VRAINS)**

Jumping into Link VRAINS, Playmaker was caught completely off guard when he saw that the person standing right before him was not Ghost girl who was lying passed out on the ground behind the ever insane looking Mammon "Welcome Playmaker, my best guess would be this wasn't what you weren't expecting to see when she sent you that message."

Playmaker watched on as Mammon turned and kicked Ghost girl's body hard "Just so you know she is out for the count and will not be returning to us for a very long time.

Ai jumped out of Playmaker's disk 'Wait! Does that mean all the stuff about her getting a backdoor entrance to the databank, was all a lie?!'

"Of course not." A digital golden card formed above Mammon's index finger "I have the data ready here. It's the backdoor to SOL Technologies' databank. If the information I received is true then it should contain information about the incident you were involved in ten years ago." The card vanished as he continued "Truth be told I don't have to be here right now."

"Then why are you?" Playmaker asked

The hunter laughed "I'll give you three reasons for me doing this. One is that I was to give you the chance to win the backdoor to the databank, if you can beat me in a duel then I'll consider you more than worthy of going in there. The second reason is that simply I want to test myself against you again, I feel that our last match ended a bit abruptly. That and if you want that miserable person to return to the world of the living then you'll have to earn that off me as well. Finally, the third reason is my original goal is still the same." He took a quick look back at Ghost girl "That's her purpose, she's the bait."

There was a silence as Playmaker thought with his eyes closed, the wind blew adding even more to the ever building tension "So… That's what's going on," he opened his eyes and glared fiercely at his opposite number "Fine then, I'll do you to win the databank as Ghost girl first promised. Then the truth behind what happened ten years ago will finally be revealed!"

With one last look at his target, Mammon jumped off the roof and landed on his D-Board as it sped to meet him. Playmaker too made the leap. Soon the two of them were ready for their second match.

" **Speed Duel!"** Both of them declared at the same time.

Mammon's LP: 4000 Playmaker's LP: 4000 Cards x4

 **Turn 1**

"I hope you don't mind but I'll be taking the first turn," Mammon started, seeing the hand before him he couldn't help but take advantage of the situation "To being I'll be activating the effect of **Corruption Yamato** from my hand. By sending this card in my hand to the graveyard I can summon one monster from my deck which whose level is one lower and has fewer attack points." Yamato was a darkened version of a card from a much hated olden deck that maintained its 1800 attack points.

Ai blinked 'Eh? What's the point of sending a monster that for intents and purposes is a better monster for one that is clearly weaker in every possible way?'

Mammon glared back, making the Ignis cower "If you would be so kind as to wait you'd see the point behind this. I use this effect to summon **Corruption Trojan** from my deck!" Corruption Trojan was a small black worm like creature with white streaks on it that slinked and slithered its way onto the field beside Mammon in defence mode.

 **Corruption Trojan, Level 3, DARK, Fiend, Effect (** 0/ **1000)**

"I activate Trojan's effect. Once per turn I can pay 500 life points and I summon one Corruption token in defence mode to my field."

Mammon's LP: **4000 – 3500**

A smaller version of Trojan slimed out of Trojan's body in a very repulsive manner "Now, appear before me! The corrupted circuit that destroys all! The summoning conditions are exactly two dark monsters! I set Corruption Trojan and the Trojan token in the link markers." The link square appeared in the air as Mammon continued with a feral grin. The token hit the bottom marker while Trojan hit the top marker "Appear now! Link 2! **Corruption Ziegal!** "

Mammon's new monster busted out of the link square, resulting in a lanky black demon appearing, it had yellow eyes with no pupils in them. On its wrists were two black metal cuffs with rusty spikes on them. It had purple veins coursing through its body, they came together at the back to form a symbol of some sorts. It looked to be an amalgamation between the mark Sateriasis bared on his hand and one of the many adorning his avatar's appearance.

 **Corruption Ziegal, Link 2, DARK, Effect,** _(_ **1600** ) **Link Markers: Bottom and Top**.

"Ziegal's first effect! When this card is first summoned you take 200 points of damage for each card in your hand." He turned to face Playmaker with the feral grin still plastered on his face "In Layman's terms, that'll be 800 points of damage." The veins on Ziegal's body began to pulsate rapidly and two balls of dark energy appeared in its hands, they were released, striking Playmaker hard, sending him careening backwards.

Playmaker's LP: **4000 – 3200**

"Now it's time for Ziegal's other effect! Once per turn I can special summon one level four monster from my hand to a zone where this card's link markers points to. I summon Paladin of Corruption!" The half shining half corrupted knight gave a quick slash as it came to the field.

 **P** **aladin of Corruption** **Level 4, Fiend, DARK, Effect** ( **1600** /1200)

"I believe you remember his effect. By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I can deal you damage equal to half of his attack points." The sword charged up and launched its beam, hitting Playmaker square in the chest.

Playmaker's LP: **3200 – 2400**

The hunter laughed manically "I place one card facedown and end my turn. What do you think Playmaker?! It is only the first turn yet I've managed to get rid of nearly half your life points! Not so full of yourself now, are you?!"

For the moment Playmaker remained silent and stoic, instead Ai was the one to speak, rolling his eye while doing so 'He's the one saying that we're full of ourselves? Last I checked we were not the ones who were bragging after the first turn!'

Playmaker glared down "But you decided to wind him up when I beat Revolver."

'Ah! But I only bragged _because_ we won! It is much more respectful that way.' Ai responded with a rather week justification.

Meanwhile with Mammon, he was trying his best to ignore this conversation, mentally sweat dropping _'Is that thing really as big a threat as Revolver says it is?'_

Mammon's cards x1

 **Turn 2**

"My turn, I draw!" Playmaker looked at the drawn card then his hand carefully before choosing his opening move "To begin with since I control no monsters, I can special summon Linkslayer from my hand!" Linkslayer was a yellow, darkish red brown armoured man with the appearance like that of a lion. It was also wearing a red cape, with orange glowing eyes fixed into the lion like helmet, and also wore gauntlets that had glowing blue energy in the shape of a blade

 **Linkslayer, Level 5, EARTH, Cyberse, Effect** ( **2000** /600)

'See that! In one move Playmaker has already summoned a monster more powerful than anyone you control!' Ai wound Mammon up even more.

"Careful," Playmaker reprimanded him "If you antagonise him even more he might do something insane. So I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

"Now I summon Draconet!" Draconet was a blueish white dragon like monster that had its 'wings' spread out as well as several blue lines streaking across its body.

 **Draconet, Level 3, DARK, Cyberse, Effect (1400** /1200 **)**

"Draconet's effect now activates! When this card is normal summoned I can special summon one level 2 or lower normal monster from my hand or deck. I choose Bitron from my deck!" The monster coming out of the portal behind Playmaker was a small white robot that hovered above the ground and had two digital blue eyes

 **Bitron, Level 2, EARTH, Cyberse** (200/ **2000** )

"Appear before me! The circuit that leads to the future! The summoning conditions are one normal monster!" Racing into the link square appearing before him, Playmaker continued on "I set Bitron in the link markers!" Bitron hit the bottom marker "Circuit combine! Appear, Link 1! Link Spider!"

Slowly pulling itself together Link Spider turned out to be robotic black arachnid that like Draconet had blue markings all over its body.

 **Link Spider, Link 1, EARTH, Effect, Cyberse (1000) Link Markers: Bottom**

"Link Spider's effect! Once per turn I can summon one level four or lower normal monster directly from my hand to my field! I select Digitron!" A monster that looked like a more advanced version of Bitron appeared, filling up all of Playmaker's monster zones.

Mammon took note of this "Well, Playmaker it looks like you've dug yourself into this formation. I look forward to seeing what you can do."

Playmaker took no heed of Mammon "Appear for the second time, the circuit that leads to the future! I set Digitron, Link Spider and Bitron in the link markers!" Link spider sped to the top while Bitron went to the bottom left and Digitron hit the bottom right. "Circuit combine! Appear Link 3! Decode Talker!"

Digital data started pulling themselves together as they materialized into a warrior with blue armour and purple outlines along with a sword. The warrior let out a battle cry as it broke the Link Gate.

 _ **Decode Talker, Link 3, DARK, Cyberse (**_ ** _2300_** _)_ _ **Link**_ **Markers: Top, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.**

 **(Hanoi)**

Watching the screen in front of them Revolver was flanked on the left by another person watching the ongoing duel was a woman with red somewhat spiky hair that had orange highlights in it, she had grey eyes with the right obscured by a large grey eyepiece. She wore a female version of the standard outfit that had purple stripes on it. "The pieces are in line perfectly." The woman, Baira said "Project Another is all but complete, however I must ask what was the point of getting Mammon to duel Playmaker, Revolver?"

Revolver smirked, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the duel "He said to me earlier that he wanted a second chance to take down Playmaker. At first I was indeed hesitant to allow him to do so. But he offered his plan, which he thought would lead to a positive result no matter what. After hearing him I decided to grant his request."

"Alright then. I trust your judgment."

 **(Back to the duel)**

"Decode Talker's effect! This card gains 500 attack points for each monster linked to it, currently Linkslayer is the only monster it points to! Power Integration!" Decode lifted up his sword as he was surrounded by a dark purple aura.

Decode's ATK: **2300 – 2800**

"I set one card facedown." Playmaker accounted for the lack of a main phase 2 "Battle! Decode Talker attacks Corruption Ziegal! Decode end!"

Decode revved up its attack and sped towards Ziegal, it looked as if contact was about to be made, however that was just simply not the case "I don't think I'm going to allow that. I activate the Continuous Trap **Spellbinding Corruption Circle!** "

This card depicted a one of Mammon's link monsters becoming ensnared by a bright circle that had multiple symbols, rendering any and all attacks from that monster mute. "This card can only be activated when a Link monster I control is attacked, the attacking monster not only has its effect nullified but its attack points drop to zero until this card leaves the field!"

'What! What! What!' Ai said, jumping out and flapping his arms wildly. Meanwhile a blinding light began to encircle Decode not taking very long to completely halt the monsters attack, binding its arms to its side."

Decode's ATK: **2800 – 0**

Mammon's insane laugh pierced through the air again "Oh, what a crying shame! One of your best monsters has been reduced to being totally and utterly useless!"

Playmaker growled slightly then he made his next move "If Decode can't attack then Linkslayer will! I attack Ziegal again!"

Linkslayer charged forward, this time the strike was successful in landing a blow on Ziegal, tearing through the demon's body and dealing the first blow to Mammon.

Mammon's LP: **3500 – 3100**

"Ziegal's last effect now triggers. When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I summon back one of the monsters used to link summon this card. I revive Corruption Trojan!" The sullied worm crawled out again, this time looking a lot worse for wear.

' _He has two monsters on his field, next turn if he manages to summon a monster, he'll have the conditions to summon his ace card.'_ Playmaker time afterwards weighing over the pros and cons "I end my turn."

Playmaker's cards x1

 **Turn 3**

"My turn, draw! I summon Corruption Ritual Imp!" The mischievous green imp stock its head out of the portal before deciding to rather lethargically crawl its entire body out, snickering all the while.

 **Corruption Ritual Imp** , **Level 4, DARK, Fiend, Effect** ( **1000** /1000)

"Time for me to put you in your place, Playmaker!" The link gate came into being just below Mammon's board "Appear before me! The corrupted circuit that destroys all! The summoning conditions are two or more Corruption monsters! I set Corruption Ritual Imp, Paladin of Corruption and Corruption Trojan in the link markers! Circuit combine! Descend the embodiment of my soul! Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon!"

There was a deafening screech as Corruption Dragon flexed its wings causing a huge gust of wind to consume the two duelists, just as they came out of the bottleneck of buildings and into the open.

 _ **Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon Link 3, Dragon, DARK,**_ ( **2400** ) **Markers: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right**.

"I activate the last card in my hand, the spell **Reworking Corruption**!" The card showed on it an open grave that had a black liquid seeping out of it, underneath a nearby grave was a deceased version of Paladin of Corruption the liquid seemed to be beginning to encroach on that grave as well. "This card allows me to summon one monster from my graveyard that has been used for a link summon this turn, however its effect is negated. I select Paladin of Corruption to resurrect to the field!"

Paladin was set in the middle monster zone, looking even more decayed than previously "Corruption Dragon's effect. It gains attack points equal to the level of the monsters that are linked to it x200! Currently linked to this card is the level four Paladin of Corruption, that's 800 points in Layman's terms."

Corruption Dragon's ATK: **2400 – 3200**

Mammon closed his eyes "You see that Playmaker, my monster now has more than enough power to take out your life points in one single blow. Why don't you just give up? Surely you can see that your situation is hopeless."

Playmaker clenched as fist and glared at Mammon "You're wrong, I can't give up and simply won't, I'll give you three reasons why. One! So long as my points are above zero I can never be considered truly beaten. Two! You are currently the only one in the possession of the backdoor to the SOL Technologies' databank, in there are the answer I've been seeking since I began this journey. Three! If I was to give up, it would mean I will have abandoned everything I've been fighting for up until now. That I simply can't allow!"

Mammon opened one of his eyes "Is that so? You wish to know what happened ten years ago, don't you? That's your ultimate goal, the reason why you target the Knights of Hanoi, because of the naming of the incident you were involved in."

Then there was a prolonged silence, the only thing heard was the sound of the data winds. The two duelists were glaring absolute daggers at each other. But it was broken by a solitary word "Battle." Mammon declared with contempt at Playmaker "Corruption Dragon will attack Decode Talker and end your journey of revenge! Farewell, Playmaker!"

Ai at this point had completely lost his shit and it didn't help that Playmaker was staying silent as the attack neared 'Hey! Are you going to do anything?! If you haven't noticed we only have 2400 life points, his monster has 3200! If you want me to do the maths that'll leave us with no points left! So do something!'

As the attack hit Decode, a huge plume of smoke emerged from the contact "Akutoku no Jajjimento." Mammon was certain of victory, he had cleansed himself from the sin of his previous failure and could go back having restored his record. However, "How?! That's Impossible! You shouldn't have survived that!"

The thing that had triggered this reaction was the discovery that was Playmaker still standing alive and well with life points to spare, but Decode talker was nowhere to be seen. Another monster was standing there instead "I activated my Trap **Cynet Recoded Change!** " This card showed Decode in the foreground coated in a blue light while in the background stood Encode lifting up its sword. "This card allows me to tribute one 'Code Talker' monster that I control and change it with another one in my extra deck. Just before your attack went through I activated this card. Using it I was allowed to summon Encode Talker from my extra deck. However I will now take damage equal to half the original attack points of the tributed monster, the battle phase will also now end!"

Playmaker's LP: **2400 – 1350**

 _ **Encode Talker, Link 3, LIGHT, Cyberse (**_ ** _2300_** _)_ _ **Link**_ **Markers: Top, Bottom and Bottom Right.**

Mammon looked irate, his eyes began to twitch furiously "Playmaker, you really have don't have a clue! SOL Technologies is the enemy you should be seeking! By attacking the Knights of Hanoi you distract the world from the real enemy, who you've effectively helped up until now! I ask you like I did before, why are you doing this?!"

It was Playmaker's turn to look irate, "People like you will never understand the pain and suffering the lost incident caused me. All of us were forced in to life or death situations. Dueling was a method of survival to us. Despite being saved, it left me with deep scars, I tried my best to fit in and repress the incident. But no matter what I did, I couldn't outrun the past. When I learned that the lost incident had the alias of the Hanoi project, it was then I made the fateful decision. To become the emissary of revenge! To crush anyone or anything connected to Hanoi!"

It looked like both of them were angry enough to burst a blood vessel and that if they weren't on separate boards, something very ugly would occur. Out of the two it was Mammon who appeared to calm down first "I'm guessing that's part of a speech you gave to Revolver, I'll tell you one thing. I understand far more than you believe. It is your turn now, let's see if you can beat me this turn."

Mammon's cards x0

 **Turn 4**

"I'll make sure of it!" Playmaker slashed the top card of his deck. Not even taking time to formulate a strategy he launched into it "I place one card facedown. Battle! Linkslayer will attack Corruption Dragon!"

The sheer insanity of the move was enough to make Mammon take a step towards the back of his board "What are you doing? Corruption Dragon has 3200 attack points, your Linkslayer has 2000 attack points. You'll only deal yourself damage!"

Linkslayer attempted to cleave into Corruption, only for the massive dragon to swat the cyberse monster back with its tail "Encode Talker's effect! Once per turn, before damage calculation, if a monster linked to this card battles a monster that has higher attack than it, that monster is unable to be destroyed by battle and I take no battle damage."

Mammon for a moment look scared but then he settled back into his usual look "Ah, so what? Even if that is true, Corruption Dragon can't be destroyed by any of your monsters this turn. You may as well pack it in."

"Do you really think so?" Playmaker said.

"Shut up! You've got nothing!" Despite his best efforts, Mammon's voice shook.

"Encode's other effect! After damage calculation, I can have this card or one monster this card points to gain attack equal to your monster's attack points! I select Encode to receive Corruption Dragon's attack points!"

Encode's ATK: **2300 – 5600**

"Go, Encode Talker! Destroy Corruption Dragon! Final Encode!" Encode tore fiercely into Corruption Dragon, like a mythological knight slaying the evil dragon, the resulting blast from the destruction, knocked Mammon far behind Playmaker.

Mammon's LP: **3100 – 700**

"Corruption Dragon's final effect!" Mammon shouted, trying to hide his desperation "At the end of the turn this card was destroyed I can summon one Corruption link monster from my graveyard. Resurrect Corruption Ziegal!"

'Ah! He's gotten away from us! I thought for sure we'd beaten him, now he's revived another one of his monsters! Will this ever end?' Ai grovelled, earning an icy glare from Playmaker.

Encode's ATK: **5600 –** **2300**

Playmaker's cards x1

Back at Hanoi, another person teleported into the main room, he was a man of roughly 32 or so. He had short spiky blue hair, like Baira he wore an eyepiece that seemed to be a section from the standard Hanoi mask. His getup was the usual white uniform but it had brown trims. "Faust, glad you could join us." Revolver said as Faust took position beside him.

"Forgive me for being late." Faust bowed.

"No problem."

For the first time, Faust looked at the screen and immediately he gained an expression of concern "What on earth does Sateriasis think he's doing?!"

Faust began to move away "Stop!" Revolver said causing him to go as stiff as a statue, Baira placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly "Listen to me, Aso. I know how you feel about both of them, but you've got allow this to happen. Sateriasis wanted this and I'm certain he wouldn't have left anything to chance."

 **Turn 5**

' _This ends this turn. This turn I'll send Playmaker to hell!'_ Mammon regained his frenzied look as he started "My turn! I draw! I activate Ziegal's effect! First, you're dealt damage equal to the amount of cards in your hand! While it may seem like a drop in the water, 200 points is still a decent amount!"

Playmaker's LP: **1150 – 950**

"Appear! The corrupted circuit that destroys all!" Once more the link gate appeared for Mammon "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Corruption monsters with less than 2000 attack points! I set the link 2 Corruption Ziegal and Paladin of Corruption in the link markers! Circuit combine! Witness the final monster you'll ever see! Link 3! Corruption Grimdead!"

 **Corruption Grimdead, Link 3, Fiend, Effect, DARK (** **2000** **) Link Markers: Middle Left, Bottom Left, Top Left**

"My final stand begins now! I activate one of Grimdead's effects! When I have no cards in my hand, I can select one monster that is in my graveyard and summon that monster to a zone this card points to! Be born once again Paladin of Corruption!"

'That card again? He's used that card three times. And he said last time you had an affinity for Cyberse Wizard.' Ai pointed out the dramatic irony of Mammon's actions.

"Grimdead gains attack equivalent to half the attack points of the monsters pointing to this card. At this moment, only Paladin is linked to it. That's an increase of 800 points!"

Grimdead's ATK: **2000 – 2800**

'That's still not enough! Even if Playmaker didn't use Encode's effect, you wouldn't be able to deal enough damage to erase our life points!' Ai was dancing at this point, certain of victory.

"Don't gloat just yet! I activate the effect of the destroyed Spellbinding Corruption Circle. By banishing this card from my graveyard I can add one Corruption monster from my graveyard to my hand. I'll take Trojan!"

'That's his plan!' Playmaker was struck with a sudden moment of realisation.

Mammon laughed, placing his hand over his face "I see you've realised your predicament. However applying that knowledge will prove to be the test. I play Paladin's effect! By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I deal you damage equal to half his attack points!"

Playmaker's LP: **950 – 150**

"Battle! Grimdead will attack Encode Talker! Reaping knell!" Grimdead vanished from Mammon's field in a veil of shadows, before reappearing directly behind Encode preparing to strike.

'Ha! He's gone mad! We'll just activate Encode's eff-' Ai went to say only to be cut off.

"During the turn I use Spellbinding's effect from the grave, my opponent cannot activate monster effects for the rest of the turn!"

'But that means… Encode's protection effect is sealed off!'

"My point exactly! This is the true end of you Playmaker!"

"Are you sure about that?" With those five words, Mammon's face fell "As far as I'm concerned there is still one card left on my field, which can change the outcome of this duel! I play the Trap **Recoded Survival!** " This card depicted a barrier of other Cyberse monsters protecting the two main Code Talkers in the centre "When a Code Talker I control is attacked I can tribute one Cyberse monster on my field, negate the attack and end the battle phase!"

Just as Encode was about to be ripped in two, Linkslayer jumped in the way of Grimdead's blade.

While Playmaker looked perfectly calm and Ai was busy working on one liners to say, Mammon looked practically crushed, he fell to his knees and grasped his head _'Not again… Please god no, I can't lose, they'll come for me if I lose._ ' He started to subconsciously speak out loud "I'll win… I'll win… I'm sorry, I'll win next time for sure!" His eyes then widened as he fell on his front, still muttering to himself.

The three of the watchers in Hanoi's base, all wore faces of horror "That's it!" Faust declared breaking off "I won't stand here and let him suffer alone, I'm going to collect him!"

Before anyone could stop him, Faust dissolved into cerulean pixels.

Mammon's cards x0

 **Turn 6**

Initially Playmaker was hesitant to even begin his turn, only starting after some prodding from Ai did he even begin, his draw phase didn't matter "Battle. Encode attacks Paladin of Corruption. Final Encode!"

The attack struck, robbing Mammon of his last life points and handing Playmaker the victory.

Mammon's LP: **700 – 0**

Playmaker: **Win!**

The resulting aftermath of Encode's attack had caused Mammon to completely fall from the board into the abyss below.

It looked as if he was going to hit the ground, but then there was the sudden flash of another D-board coming into the picture, this one belonged to Faust who'd arrived just in time to catch Mammon on the way down, the impact kicked him back into sufficient consciousness just along enough to speak "Faust. I'm sorry." He passed out again after that.

Faust followed Playmaker to the rooftop he had landed on and confronted him "I take it you're a Knight of Hanoi then?" Playmaker said.

"Yes." Faust answered, the golden card that held the backdoor then appeared "Take it. Mammon promised it to you, we always fulfil our end of the deal." He threw the card, then vanished taking Mammon with him.

Playmaker took a look at the data he'd received 'Could this really be it? Are all the answer to my past really stored in that database.'

Without a second thought, he logged out leaving VRAINS bare of people.

* * *

 **(The next day)**

Even by his own Standards, Sateriasis looked dishevelled beyond belief, his hair was all over the place while his school uniform had its top buttons undone and the tie had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Of course exactly what he needed was to be sat in the Duel club and Naoki to be talking to him, "You don't look so good Marlon. Are you alright?"

"I assure you, I'm perfectly fine. I just stayed up late last night, that's all there is to it." Sateriasis groaned, trying all the while to fix his hair back to normal.

"Oh." Naoki said, then looked at his disk "Hey, I've got something to show you."

If Sateriasis was drinking, he'd probably have spat it out "What is it?" He tried his best to sound even vaguely interested, but his disdain still seeped its way through.

Naoki shoved his disk in Sateriasis' face, on the screen he could what looked to be a VRAINS avatar of sorts. The avatar was covered in armour and just looked like someone was compensating for something. "I finally decided to make a VRAINS account, with people like Playmaker fighting Hanoi, I thought that I shouldn't be sitting around doing nothing."

"This is your avatar then?" Sateriasis asked, despite already knowing the answer in his head.

"Yeah! What do you think of it? I'm thinking of calling myself Lonely Brave!" Naoki sounded quite proud of himself, a personality trait Sateriasis was all too familiar with. He knew exactly how to handle this.

"Well, I don't know if I'm in a position to comment as I don't own a VRAINS account. However, if I am to offer one opinion it would be…" He intentionally took a dramatic pause to raise Naoki's expectations, a trick he'd pulled multiple times with Allen.

The pause to Naoki was unbearable as Sateriasis dragged it out even longer "Come on! Out with it already!"

"It looks like total shit." Naoki's face dropped and he looked absolutely mortified, something Sateriasis couldn't help but laugh at internally.

Seeing that Naoki was at a total loss for words, Sateriasis took this opportunity to flee while he still could, almost immediately after he left he came into contact with his lead suspect.

Yusaku appeared to be asking about Aoi's whereabouts seeing that she hadn't come into school the past few days for some unknown reason, carefully he approached Yusaku from behind. "Hey, you're Yusaku Fujiki right?"

Yusaku turned around to face Sateriasis with his usual blank expression "I'm sorry do I know you?"

Now, Sateriasis would've been offended but given that the two had barely interacted he considered it reasonable. "I'm Sateriasis Marlon, I go to the duel club as well."

"Oh, that's right." Yusaku remembered "What do you want?"

"Nothing really, I just wanted to properly introduce myself." Sateriasis smiled, but Yusaku felt something off about him, the aura he radiated seemed to be one of intense cruelty and sadism yet underneath all that exterior there laid a sense of melancholy and crippling loneliness. Truly it was one of the most confusing auras Yusaku had ever sensed.

* * *

 **(SOL Technologies)**

"Playmaker now has the backdoor to our databank, what do you plan on doing Lucifinia?" Bishop was the only one of the three chess pieces present. He had requested a private meeting with Zitor.

The head of development laughed "Why, I plan on annihilating him of course! Absolutely no one is getting that data and even if I have to step in myself Playmaker's last stand will be inside the bank!"

"Good. But remember this before you go, if Playmaker gets his hands on that data our plans will be sunk. I'm authorising you to use any means necessary to prevent that from happening." The room then returned to normal as Zitor took a look at his deck.

He landed on specific card, his ace monster. It was a Link 4 monster but it had 0 attack points. "Are you ready Sendong? Because I think it's about time for us to make our move."

* * *

 **AN: I want to say a couple things here. One is that in about two weeks time, I'll be doing my GCSE exams. They'll be going on until sometime in June so I'll have to stop writing for a bit to focus on them.**

 **Now that I've got that out, let's move on:**

 **Don't be disappointed. The card/virus Mammon implanted on Ghost Girl still hasn't been activated yet. He has his reasons for it.**

 **The next chapter as you can probably figure out will be a duel between Zitor and Playmaker in the databank. You wouldn't believe how much I am looking forward to writing that.**

 **By the by, I'm still thinking about the OC thing. I'll make the final judgment next chapter.**

 **I have just the QOTC to ask: What do you think Zitor's deck will be like? I'm interested on seeing what you think before I decide to reveal it.**

 **See you in roughly two months time!**

 **Side note: I've got a story to recommend. It's called "Yugioh VRAINS: The link between fates". It is by GreedyMattymo, who I'm somewhat good friends with. I suggest you read it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: The Tainted Inferno**

 **(VRAINS)**

"Let me get this straight, Emma hacked into my company's mother computer, went to duel Playmaker only to fall unconscious again for Mammon to steal it and challenge Playmaker to win if off him. Which he then lost, meaning Playmaker now has the backdoor." Akira and Colt stood in an alleyway deep within the system "Am I right?"

"Yeah, pretty much from what I could gather." Knowing that she was planning to duel Playmaker eventually, Colt had hacked into the VRAINS camera system to observe the events.

"I don't have a clue what she was planning to do." Akira said.

"I'm guessing she was interested in the incidents that happened ten years ago. About how SOL Technologies was involved." Trying to listen in on the conversation, a butterfly sneaked out of a nearby abandoned building. "It's due to your demotion and lack of authority that you can't access any of the data that is held on them. It's ironic that you work in the data room all day."

Akira remained silent, so Colt continued "Look at it like this, if Playmaker infiltrates the mother computer, Kitamura, your successor as Security Manager will be eager to eliminate Playmaker. Because he'll be the one held responsible. Meaning that if all the attention is on Playmaker, we can slip into the data bank completely unnoticed."

"So what you're suggesting is to use Playmaker as a decoy?"

"Correct." Colt answered.

"Fine. I understand, if my company is covering up its involvement ten years ago, I can't ignore it. Let's just hope this goes well." Akira logged out but Colt remained in the network for a little while longer.

Without turning around, he spoke "I know you're there Blue Angel, you can't hide from me."

Sitting her room, Aoi who was the one controlling the butterfly gasped when Colt revealed his knowledge "How did he know?"

Despite his mask hiding his expression, Colt's condescending tone more than made up for that "Trust me when I say this. Do not follow us into the mother computer, you'll only end up hurting yourself. So listen to what your brother has told you."

* * *

 **(Real World)**

On the screens before them, the schematic to SOL's mother computer was laid bare to Yusaku and Shoichi "There must be a lead to the incident ten years ago at the centre of the data bank."

"The incident ten years ago…" Yusaku muttered.

'Yeah, I hope so.' Ai placed his hands behind his head.

"There are many security traps blocking your way to the centre. I've already created ways to deal with them." Shoichi said.

"You work fast." Yusaku smiled slightly.

"Leave it to me."

The screen flashed then flashed. 'We're linked to SOL's mother computer.' Ai turned to face the other two, he saw that they both looked varying shades of unsure 'Hey, aren't you going?'

"One: This data was originally hacked by Ghost Girl, meaning that it may not be credible. Two: It later wound up in the hands of Mammon and the Knights of Hanoi, there is the chance that it is all a set up to trap me. Three: Either one of these people could be doing this for their own gain. As both Ghost Girl and Mammon seem like individuals who don't do anything if it doesn't benefit themselves."

Hearing this, Ai gurned 'Why are you just saying this now? I said from the beginning it might be a trap! Lost your nerve?'

Yusaku glared at Ai "I didn't say I wasn't going."

"He's just saying that it never hurts to be careful." Shoichi cut in.

However that didn't stop Ai from commenting anyway 'What's with that! Humans are so annoying!'

Yusaku took out his deck as he made the jump "Deck set! Into the VRAINS!"

* * *

Instead of logging into the usual area of VRAINS, Yusaku had logged into what looked like a massive maze.

"Take this, Yusaku!" Shoichi transferred over a propulsion device which materialised in the system allowing him travel deeper into the system. Also providing a glowing green tail of sorts.

"Move vertically down from point 434." Shoichi guided Playmaker carefully as the person in question dove "Maintain speed and continue diving."

Ai decided he'd like to weigh in 'Unlike Link VRAINS, this place is desolate. And this tail is just… So uncool."

Shoichi chimed in to tell him why "As long as it is connected, it emits jamming waves so that you won't be detected.

After enough time had passed and Playmaker continued following the guidance given, the usual green parallelograms that were orbiting around the place suddenly gave way to a string of purple ones that were hurtling down the empty space at a breakneck pace. "Be careful! If you hit it, you'll be erased!"

Playmaker quickly dodged out of the way "It's a security trap!"

But as soon as he got out of dodge the first time, a second came into view 'Another one is coming!' Ai yelped.

"I sent Sphere Kuriboh. Use it as a decoy!" Shoichi hurriedly sent the monster to prevent anything going wrong.

Just in time, Playmaker was able to fire the small mechanical monster into the security trap, prevent what would've been a very unpleasant demise.

"Take the side road and turn immediately!" Playmaker followed the order to a tee, but it only resulted in the discovery of more security traps. The fact he was heading straight towards another one didn't really help matters, it forced him to use yet another Sphere Kuriboh.

'You only have one Sphere Kuriboh left!' Taking that into account Playmaker moved up into another section. One that contain an absolute metric shit of traps, because apparently Sod's law was a legitimate thing. He tried his best to avoid them as best he could but it ended up in him having to use the last Kuriboh in his arsenal.

"Good. Keep going straight." Shoichi watched on as the screen tracked Playmaker's progress "You're almost through Area A."

'That was easy! Let's go to the goal!' It was just then that something unusual happened, the winds of a data storm blew. 'What? A data storm?' Diving in further, the two found out that it wasn't just the winds but a fully-fledged storm 'There's a data storm?'

"Do we have to go through?" Playmaker asked.

' _It's too dangerous! We have to give up- No if we dive deeper, the data storm's effect will be…'_ But as Shoichi was thinking through what to do, the worst case scenario happened, a security trap hit Playmaker's 'tail' severing it.

"Flee!"

As a result of the impact, Playmaker was flung backwards and became caught up in the data storm's winds.

 **(SOL Technologies)**

"Wh-What's going on?!" Kitamura stammered in shock, standing up from his desk.

"Intruder in the mother computer!" One of the workers below him answered.

"What?" Kitamura's face contorted into an expression which shouldn't be physically possible to make, yet somehow he still made it.

"I'll put it on the screen!" The worker showed the live feed, Playmaker was now on his D-board.

Once again Kitamura's face contorted in sheer unadulterated terror "P-Playmaker!"

In his own office, watching his own feed of the mother computer. Zitor's face showed the opposite reaction of Kitamura's. "You've finally shown yourself Playmaker, I'm surprised you made it so far without tripping our system. But even a perfect plan, never survives first contact with the enemy." Smirking he lifted his own disk "I'll be waiting. Into the VRAINS!"

Back in the security room, Kitamura was flipping his shit, so to say. "Redirect Prototype A and B immediately!" He shouted, referring to his success in creating 100% Ai duelists, something he greatly mocked Akira for. "Exterminate Playmaker!

In the system, the two Ai duelists appeared, one of them was green while the other was orange "Duelists?" Playmaker said through gritted teeth.

'Found Playmaker.' Both Ai's droned.

'They're a 100% Ai duelists!' Ai said.

"SOL Technologies can make these?"

'Beginning speed duel.' The green one said.

'Hey! Didn't they teach you that duels are 1 on 1?'

Elsewhere, Colt and Akira were also watching the scene unfold from Colt's apartment "Looks like you were correct." Colt said.

"Kitamura sent his precious Ai squad." Bitter and sarcastic couldn't even begin to describe what Akira had just said sounded like.

Colt on the other hand chose to ignore it entirely "He seems desperate if he's willing to use them straight away. It would seem like now would be the perfect time to go since he'll be focused on them."

"Yeah." He lifted his disk as too did Akira "Into the VRAINS!"

Back in the system, the Ignis was busy running his mouth 'Sheesh! No one taught them manners! We can't duel them normally.' Both AIs sped forward and began to encircle Playmaker 'What will you do, Playmaker?' In response Playmaker outmanoeuvred the encirclement, leaving the AIs in the dust.

'Split into two groups. Formation D!' The two parted in a pincer like movement.

' _Playmaker! Don't turn this into a bigger deal! Give me a break!'_ Kitamura sweated before he realised something _'Hurry up before the higher ups find out! If they find out, I'm finished! Even worse, Lucifinia could find out and blackmail me!'_ He slumped in his chair in a state of total despair _'But if I win this duel, they'll support Ai duelists and I'll acquire the Ignis! My reputation will surely rise! And then I'll take Lucifinia's place as the higher ups favourite!'_

He stood up and gained a sense of bravado "Okay, Playmaker! Just you wait!"

'I was waiting for this. We didn't run away, we'll prove it!' Ai ran his mouth yet again.

"A duel is 1 on 1."

'Switching to Duel mode.' Soon Playmaker was embroiled in a match with the green Ai, also known as Prototype A.

To begin with the Ai activated the effect of Tentacluster Darkwhip a monster with 100 attack points and 500 defence points in its hand, paying 500 LP to Special Summon it. It then activated the Spell Card Machine Duplication to Special Summon two copies of a Machine monster with 500 or less ATK from its Deck. It Special Summoned two more copies of Darkwhip.

Then it used the three copies of Darkwhip to Link Summon Tentacluster Nautilus a link 3 monster that had zero attack points and all of its link markers pointing down to the Extra Monster Zone.

As Nautilus was Link Summoned, the Ai activated its effect to Special Summon a Tentacluster monster from its hand to a zone it points to. It Special Summons Tentacluster Drillworm a card with 600 attack and 1200 defence points to the bottom Link Point of Nautilus. It took the liberty to normal summon a second copy of Drillworm to the bottom-left Link Point of Nautilus. Then it activates the effect of Nautilus to destroy all cards it points to. As both Drillworms were destroyed, their effects activate, allowing the Ai to send a random card from Playmaker's hand to the graveyard for each.

In addition if it was a monster that was sent to the graveyard, another random card would be sent there as well. Flick Clown and Dual Assembwurm were sent to the graveyard by the effect of the first Drillworm, while Linkslayer and Cynet Defrag were sent there by the effect of the second.

Even before he began his turn Playmaker was already in a disadvantageous position. To compound matters even further during the Standby Phase, since the Ai controlled no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, and had no cards in its hand, it activated the effect of Drillworm in its grave, banishing the other Drillworm from there to send yet another random card from Playmaker's hand to the graveyard, then Special Summoning it in defence mode. Dotscaper was the unfortunate card plucked from his hand.

While this was happening, just beneath the speed duel's location. Akira and Colt had entered the system, holding the same propulsion device that Playmaker used to navigate through _'Well, it looks like Playmaker is having more trouble than he should. I wonder why that is?'_

Kitamura looked awful pleased with himself as he watched his Ai systematically destroy Playmaker's hand and then he observed the orange Ai ram into Playmaker, knocking the hacker back "Playtime's over, Playmaker!" He grinned when he heard the Ignis complain about the fairness of this manoeuvre "Did you forget you are inside our mother computer? I won't let you do whatever you like inside SOL Technologies! This isn't Link VRAINS. I'll do anything to accomplish my goals."

"Aim for Playmaker's disk! Steal it!" He barked out to his workers. One of them turned and gave him a look of disbelief, something he quickly became irate about "Hurry up and give the orders! Or I'll fire you! Just do as I say!"

The orange Ai rammed into Playmaker again, 'They're going crazy!' Ai yelped again. Prototype B went to punch Playmaker but its arm was suddenly restrained by a distinctive blue energy whip, it was then tossed up into the air.

Following the whip down would reveal Blue Angel had somehow made her way into the mother computer "Hey, AIs? Stop doing whatever you want."

"Blue Angel!" Playmaker said in shock.

"I'll be the one to defeat Playmaker!" Blue Angel was seemingly ignoring Playmaker. "So Leave!"

'You're interfering with us?' A said while B said 'If so, we will eliminate you.'

"Oh. Then I guess I have no choice I'll take you on!" She said with a determined face.

"Blue Angel…" Playmaker muttered as if it was the only thing he could say.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I only came to repay my debt."

"I don't recall ever paying you."

"That works too."

The screen outside the mother computer showed Blue Angel taking Prototype B away from Playmaker, into a separate corridor. Kitamura looked mortified "First Playmaker, then Blue Angel?" He banged his fists down hard "Why is Zaizen's sister inside our computer? Just what exactly is going on? Hey! Bring Zaizen here at once!"

"He left early today." One worker replied, crushing Kitamura again "Maybe he's sick?" one more said. "Nonsense!" Came another voice, "What should we do, Mr. Kitamura?" Came a rather more measured voice.

"Duel her!" Kitamura snapped "Eliminate her immediately! Zaizen will be held responsible!"

B, like A before it, switched into Duel mode beginning its match with Blue Angel. The discovery of this greatly perturbed Colt "What the hell is Blue Angel doing here?!"

Hearing this, Akira decided to weigh in "What did you say? What is Aoi doing here?!"

Colt was too caught up in himself to even listen to his contractor "I explicitly told her not to follow us!"

"Wait. You spoke with her? When was this? And why didn't you tell me?" Akira said, going into that overprotective brother mode of his.

Colt cocked his head "Look. If you must know, she was spying on our conversation. After you left, I spoke with her momentarily. But I expressly told her not to pull a stunt like this!"

Akira stopped "No matter what you said, it lead to her coming here. I won't let her do anything dangerous!"

Colt also halted his movements "We've come so close to the centre. Stopping now would be you turning your back on your chance to learn the truth about what happened ten years ago! We have little time left."

"But Aoi is-" Akira went to say, only to be cut off.

"Hold it!" Colt roared "While, I don't like it myself, you've got one thing to learn. Your sister isn't a child anymore. She's old enough to make her own choices. Now if you're done, let's go! If we waste any more time, Playmaker will get there before we do!" Colt took off leaving Akira no room for thought, forcing him to follow his hunter.

* * *

 **(Time Skip)**

The two saw light at the end of the tunnel, "That must be it up ahead." Colt said, traveling into the light which soon dissipated revealing an almost space like setting with balls of data orbiting about the place. In the centre there was a huge pedestal which on it contained the data being held in the banks.

However there was one thing that was out of place, or rather one person out of place. That man clapped as he made his way into view. "Well, well, well. This is unexpected. Zaizen, since when were you interested in the incidents ten years ago?"

Akira growled "Lucifinia, what are you doing here?"

"It's simple really Zaizen, Bishop said that since Playmaker had the backdoor, I was to be responsible to prevent him from gathering the information."

Colt looked confused as the two SOL managers came face to face "Who's this?" He asked bringing Zitor's attention to him.

"Ah. You must be Colt, the hunter Zaizen hired to take out the undesirables in my system. My name is Zitor Lucifinia, I'm head of Link VRAINS development." Zitor's hand began to glow a bright red "And you're interfering in something you really shouldn't be." With a flick of his wrist, a digital cage appeared round Colt and Akira "No hard feelings really, I just can't have people interfering."

'Intruder! Intruder!' The warning system blared, just as Playmaker took his first steps into the databank.

This alert resonated in the security room "There's an intruder in the main system!" The already crushed Kitamura somehow found a way to fall down another rung of the mental stability ladder "What?!"

"I'll send a feed through!" The giant screen in the middle showed what was occurring, a keyboard appeared before Zitor which he used to punch in a code, causing the floor to move.

"L-Lucifinia! What's he doing there? Playmaker too!"

Back in the system, Zitor strolled towards Playmaker "Hello there, Playmaker."

Playmaker looked confused while he didn't expect not to be challenged, he certainly wasn't sure who this man was, and this was compounded even further when he saw Colt and Akira trapped in Zitor's cage program "Who are you? What have you done to them? Are you a Knight of Hanoi?" Where some of the questions Playmaker blurted out in roughly the first 3 seconds.

Zitor's look turned deadly "First off, don't you dare associate me with that disgusting hacker group. Second: I have given my introduction to those two over there but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to introduce myself again. I am Zitor Lucifinia, the head of Link VRAINS development. The one responsible for creating the system, so I must commend your efforts to save it. Third: Those two are being held back to prevent them from interfering."

"And that means…" Playmaker said.

"That if you want to gain the data held in here, you'll have to beat me in a duel." Zitor explained, lifting up his disk.

Ai stuck his head out of the disk 'So, this is SOL Technologies data core. Data is processed and released from here.'

All of a sudden, Playmaker glared fiercely at Zitor, almost as if he was looking at a Knight of Hanoi "Were you waiting for me?"

"Yes. I was. I knew you had the backdoor, so I waited for you to turn up." Zitor answered, hand on hip. "Now those two over there are a totally different story. Just like you, they are interested in the data stored here. If I'm completely honest, I'm surprised that so many people made it here. This place is very well protected, for even one person to get in here is a feat."

"I see. I understand perfectly now." Playmaker closed his eyes.

'Does that mean we were decoys? Did we only get the backdoor so that they could get in here too?' Ai said.

"Move out of the way, Lucifinia." Playmaker said bluntly but with the slightest hint of venom in his voice.

Zitor laughed "What did you ask me to do? Leave? I'm sorry but that's just not happening. I can't allow you to go any further."

"Does that mean you know what's stored here?"

"Yes. I've known what's been stored here for a very long time. What happened at SOL Technologies ten years ago. Especially what happened to people like you, Playmaker."

Akira looked livid "He knew the entire time? Does that really mean SOL was involved in the incidents ten years ago? And covered them up?"

Playmaker's eye twitched "I have the right to know what's stored here."

Zitor spoke, seemingly without acknowledging Playmaker's last statement "You were a victim from the first incident ten years ago."

In the control room eyebrows were raised "What incident?" a worker asked.

' _I don't know what he's talking about, but I feel everyone here shouldn't find out.'_ Kitamura acted quickly "Send this footage to my office! I'll record it in my office! Turn off all the monitors! And don't record it! If you disobey, you do you're fired!"

Kitamura marched to his office and cut out any outside interference, watching it, Playmaker was the one speaking "If you know what happened then hand over that data."

"Have you been listening? I'm not going to do that." Zitor said.

'He knows what's on here but won't show it?' Ai said, nearly as angry as Playmaker 'He must be really petty!'

"Oh. Hello there. You must be Playmaker's Ignis. It's a real pleasure to meet you, IGN006." Zitor put particular emphasis on the last part.

'That's right! I am Playmaker's great Ignis!' AI started with a sense of bravado only to falter when he realised something 'Wait. What did you call me?'

"IGN006. That was your designation, it says so in this data here." Zitor explained himself in a rather condescending way.

'Does that mean this data contains my real name?!'

"No. Just your designation." Zitor said but in his mind something else was going on _'Ignis, that man created you. Due to his paranoid delusions, I won't allow him to gain control of you. I take you here and now.'_ He continued out loud "If you hand that Ai over to me, then I'll gladly leave. If you do so, I'll take the data here and release it to the world, bringing the project to light."

"No way. People with no knowledge of what we went through, shouldn't be the ones to handle this. There are three reasons why. One: I'll personally uncover the truth about the incident. Two: No matter the fact you claim to know what's on here, this has nothing to do with you. Three: However, since you are adamant to not just hand it over, you know the only why you could possibly stop me." Playmaker kept to his mantra.

The head of development looked bored stiff through most of Playmaker's speech, only lighting up at the last section "A duel? I told you that was the only way to get rid of me about five minutes ago."

"That's right. If you win, I'll comply and leave without taking the data. In addition I'll hand over this Ai." Mortified didn't even begin to describe the expression Ai pulled.

"But if I win, you leave and you allow the two of them to go free as well."

"All of that is perfectly fine by me. I formally challenge you to a duel!" Zitor stuck his arm out.

"I accept."

The layout for a master duel appeared before them, in the centre of the floor. During this time Colt took the liberty to ask Akira about Zitor "What's his deck like?"

Akira gritted his teeth "He's one of the best duelists in the company's history. His deck is extremely tough to beat, even I couldn't figure out a way out of his multiple locks."

Hearing this, Colt grimaced under his mask "Sounds like Playmaker is in for a rough ride."

" **Duel!"** Both of them shouted simultaneously.

Zitor's LP: 4000 Playmaker's LP: 4000 Cards x5

 **Turn 1**

"I'll be taking the first turn." Zitor said, waving his hand away bar one card "I summon **Infernal Puppeteer Lucifer**!" Zitor's monster was somehow an even more demented puppet than Mammon's Marionpet. Its face was broken into quarters and coming from the multiple holes adorning it, you could that there were flames pouring out of it, the stings holding the puppet in place were close to being severed and were on fire as well.

 **Infernal Puppeteer Lucifer, Level 4, Fiend, FIRE, Effect (0/** 0 **)**

"Lucifer's effect activates, when this card is summoned I can add one spell or trap card from my deck to my hand." The selected card ejected itself into Zitor's hand "Now, appear! My blazing circuit of anguish!"

'He's link summoning already?!' Ai's sentiment was shared by everyone bar Akira who just watched closely.

"The summoning conditions are one Infernal Puppeteer monster with 0 attack points!" The square appeared on the floor beneath Zitor's feet, Lucifer turned into a black twister and hit the bottom marker "I set Infernal Puppeteer Lucifer in the link markers! Circuit combine! Appear, Link 1! **Infernal Puppeteer Zeltron!** " This monster had its face nearly fully broken, instead there was fire consuming the missing pieces. The stings holding the puppet in place were close to being severed, only one of the strings was actually taut making the monster lopsided.

 **Infernal Puppeteer Zeltron, Link, Fiend, FIRE, Effect, (0) Link Markers: Bottom.**

"I place one card face down and end my turn."

Ai jumped out to explain the situation 'He's played a link monster with 0 attack. Just like why he's here, I can't figure out the reason for why he'd do something like that.'

Playmaker glared the Ignis down, "No matter if a monster has 0 attack points or 4000, nothing will be enough to stop me!"

Just before Playmaker began, Zitor cut in "By the by, when Zeltron is on the field by himself you can't attack him, instead it changes to a direct attack on me."

Ai scratched his head 'He wants us to attack him? Is he mad? He must realise that he'll only damage himself!'

"Don't be stupid." Playmaker said harshly. "Of course he knows, he wouldn't have played it if he didn't."

Zitor's cards x3

 **Turn 2**

"My turn! I draw! I discard Stack Reviver to special summon Bitlooper from my hand!" Bitlooper looked to be a more advanced robotic version of Bitron and Digitron stuck on a more advanced body.

 **Bitlooper, Level 4, Cyberse, EARTH, Effect (1500** /2000)

"By discarding a level 2 or lower monster, I can special summon Bitlooper. Next, I summon Cyberse Gadget!" Cyberse Gadget was another robot this time grey, which took its place next to Bitlooper.

 **Cyberse Gadget, Level 4, Cyberse, LIGHT, Effect (1400** /300 **)**

"When it's summoned, I can negate the effects of a level two or lower monster in my graveyard and special summon it in defence mode. Resurrect, Stack Reviver!" The small filing robot ascended from the graveyard next to Cyberse Gadget.

 **Stack Reviver, Level 2, Cyberse, DARK, Effect (** 100/ **600)**

Zitor gained a somewhat manic look "Oh, is this it? The summoning of the famous Decode Talker that defeated two of Link VRAINS' top duelists? Ok then! Show me! Show me your power!"

Taking a moment due to Zitor's sudden ramblings, Playmaker then continued "Appear! The circuit that leads to the future! I set Bitlooper, Cyberse Gadget and Stack Reviver in the link markers!" The gate appeared and the three monsters headed towards it, striking the top and bottom diagonals "The summoning conditions are at least two effect monsters! Circuit combine! Link summon! Appear, Link 3! Decode Talker!"

The card that could well be considered one of Playmaker's aces, landed with little need for an introduction.

 _ **Decode Talker, Link 3, DARK, Cyberse (**_ **2300** _)_ _ **Link**_ **Markers** ** _:_** **Top, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.**

What no one expected was for Zitor go on a laughing fit, only calming down after what seemed like an eternity. He regained his calm state as he spoke with his usual firm tone "My apologies for that. I don't often get the chance to test myself against a skilled duelist, most of the people at SOL are utter crap." He cocked his head to Akira "No offence, Zaizen. I actually think you're decent."

"Thanks…" Akira mumbled.

"Cyberse Gadget's effect activates from my graveyard! When it is sent from the field to the graveyard, I special summon one Gadget token!" A miniature version of Cyberse Gadget appeared "And when I use Stack Reviver to link summon I special summon one level 4 or lower cyberse monster in defence mode. I resurrect Cyberse Gadget!"

"Now Decode Talker's effect! Power integration! It gains 500 attack points for every monster it's linked to!"

Decode's ATK: **2300 – 3300**

'Yes! If we attack him now, we'll deal 3300 points of damage and eradicate over half of his points and have him on the ropes!'

"Are you sure about that?" Zitor smirked making everyone's faces fall "I activate the Continuous Trap, **Descent to Hell**!" The card art showed a mangled puppet falling into a deep abyss that had flames at the bottom, which give the card's name was supposed to be Hell itself. "When this card is active on the field alongside an Infernal Puppeteer link monster, once per turn I can't take damage from direct attacks."

'Grrr! What an annoying card!'

"However, this card will be destroyed when I control no Infernal Puppeteer link monsters and I take 500 points of damage as a result."

'Oh? Well that's something at least…' Ai muttered, calming down. 'But that still means we can't attack!' Playmaker's face turned sour at Ai's deduction.

That was something Zitor couldn't help but look smug at "If you recall, Zeltron can't be attacked instead I become the target of the attack. But due to Descent's effect I don't take damage from said attack. As you can see it is meaningless to even try. I ask you, the 'Hero of VRAINS' what are you going to do to beat me?"

From their position in the cage, Colt and Akira knew exactly the trick Zitor was pulling "He's getting Playmaker riled up so that he can force him into becoming nothing more than a puppet." Colt said "Is this what he's like at SOL?"

"Sadly yes, it has been noted that every manager of any major part of the company that fell out with him lost their jobs. In their place came people who all answered to him." Akira said, grasping the bars tightly.

"Appear for the second time! The circuit that leads to the future! I set Cyberse Gadget and Gadget Token in the link markers." On the gate the middle left marker and the bottom right one illuminated

"Oh? Another link summon? I can't see the point in it though." Zitor said sounding just as proud of himself as his son usually did.

His comment however, was ignored entirely "Link summon! Link 2! Flame Administrator!" Link Administrator was a red robot that looked quite block like that also had flames painted onto its armour.

 **Flame Administrator, Link 2, Cyberse, FIRE, Effect (1200) Link Markers: Middle left and Bottom right.**

"Hmph. From the way you looked, it seemed as if you were going to summon something grand. Instead you go and summon a pitiful monster with only 1200 attack points. Truly disappointing."

Ai was the one to respond to Zitor's jab 'Just you wait! Flame Administrator's effect has yet to activate.'

Playmaker took the hint and began to explain "When Flame Administrator is on the field, Link monsters on my field gain 800 attack points!"

Decode's ATK: **2300 – 3100**

"And what is that going to do exactly? My trap prevents any damage that may come my way. So all this attack boosting is meaningless." Zitor shrugged, not looking the least bit concerned by anything.

"Battle! Decode Talker attacks you directly! Decode end!" Decode sped towards Zitor, raising its sword and preparing to strike the head of development who maintained his look of total boredom.

"I play Descent's effect. For this attack I choose to negate the battle damage I would've received from this attack!" Zitor snapped his fingers causing a wall of fire to appear in front of him. Leaving Decode to cleave into that instead.

"However! Since you've used your negation for the turn, I can now use Flame Administrator to attack you directly!" Playmaker said.

The others watched in anticipation as Flame Administrator inched ever closer. It looked as if Playmaker had succeeded in damaging Zitor when the spikey haired male jumped back, however that wasn't the case "I activate the effect of Zeltron! When I'm the recipient of a direct attack, I can select one Infernal Puppeteer monster from my deck and special summon it next to Zeltron's link!" The selected monster came out of the card slot and Zitor held it out for all to see "I summon **Infernal Puppeteer** **Belphegor**!" This monster had its face fully broken, fire consumed practically the whole body. The stings holding the puppet in place were severed and the monster lay on its back with only the hands visibly moving.

 **Infernal Puppeteer** **Belphegor, Level 4, Fiend, FIRE, Effect (** 0/ **0)**

'What's with all the puppets?' Ai shivered 'They're really starting to creep me out.'

"Due to this effect, your monster's attack is now changed to Belphegor!" Multiple singed strings came from Zeltron, pulling Administrator away from Zitor, causing the attack to slice through Belphegor.

"He dodged two of Playmaker's attacks…" Colt looked concerned for Playmaker, everything was seemingly going at Zitor's pace and he didn't look like he was going to relinquish control anytime soon.

Unknown to any of the combatants, Colt and Akira included. Blue Angel had also defeated her Ai and snuck her way into seeing the duel occurring. Her eyes widened when she saw her brother stuck in Zitor's trap. _'Brother! What's happening here?'_

"I set one card face down and end my turn." Playmaker said through gritted teeth.

"Tell me something Playmaker. Are you around the same age as my son? He's sixteen if you need to know."

Playmaker went to answer, only to be waved off "Sorry. Stupid question. You were a victim ten years ago. That'll make you the same age. Trust me when I say this, I have no idea of the pain you endured during that tragedy. But both my son and I have suffered tremendously during those ten years."

'Oh great. He's going to tell a story, I just hope he doesn't use his creepy puppets!' Ai shivered whilst running his mouth.

"The children of the Hanoi project weren't the only ones kidnapped ten years ago." This revelation shocked Playmaker, Blue Angel and Shoichi who was listening in too from the back of the truck, "Ten years ago. There was another incident. Something called the Inferno Project was executed. During that time I was 26 years old and my son was only 6." There was the ever so slight sign of tears in Zitor's visible eye "For a long time, all I could do was pray and hope that my son would be returned to me. I spent each minute of every working day looking for a way to save him. I failed to find the project's location, however a miracle occurred when he came back to me. Though I found out he was completely traumatised and during anytime we were out together always stuck to my leg, unwilling to converse with anyone bar me. I imagine you undergoing a similar predicament."

From his office Kitamura looked hit for six _'Kidnapped? What's he talking about? What did SOL Technologies do?'_

Zitor narrowed his eyes "Nevertheless! The reason I stand before you, is to prevent you from extracting the data on the Hanoi Project! I can never feel your pain but I know that you'll misuse the data!"

However, Playmaker looked irate with his face contorting harshly "You know nothing about me!"

The man referred to as SOL's Bulwark simply cocked his head sideways "Oh? I don't know anything about you?" He smirked slyly "How sure of that are you?"

Playmaker staggered backwards "Lucifinia, you have noble intentions but you only know a fictional version of me! You can't possibly know what I'm really like!"

"So you're continuing this match then?" Zitor said "I look forward to seeing how you even damage me, let alone defeat me."

'Is he still talking?' Ai snarked 'Let's hurry up and beat this guy already, Playmaker!'

"I'll take that as a yes then. From here the gates of Hell have opened, there is nothing but war!" Zitor shouted

'Ah! He sounds really into it now! Maybe I shouldn't have done that…'

The head of development snapped his fingers "At the end of the turn Belphegor is destroyed by battle, I can add one level 4 or lower Infernal Puppeteer monster from my deck to my hand."

AI narrowed his eyes 'So that's it. His deck is a defensive one, his monster forces people to attack him. He then uses either a trap or the monster's effect to nullify any damage that would come his way. He is a most irritating opponent.'

"I'd call it more than just mere defence. There's a saying that goes 'If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.' This is the abyss." Zitor said coldly.

Playmaker's cards x3

 **Turn 3**

"My turn! I draw! I activate the Continuous Spell, **Ascent to Heaven!** " This card was diametrically opposed from the card to the left. This one showed a set of pearly golden gates that shone brightly. There was also a puppet lying just beneath them crawling to its feet. "This card like Descent before it will be destroyed when I have no Link monsters on my field and I will take 500 points of damage. Its effect will become apparent later so in the meantime, I summon **Infernal Puppeteer Leviathan!** "

This monster was different from the others. Instead of being a humanoid puppet, this one was dragon yet that still didn't stop it from going through the same tortured process of flames burning it to a cinder and the torched strings ensnaring it.

 **Infernal Puppeteer** **Leviathan, Level 4, Fiend, FIRE, Effect (0** /0 **)**

"Appear before me again! The blazing circuit of anguish!" The gate appeared just beneath Zitor's feet "The summoning conditions are two Infernal Puppeteer monsters with 0 attack points! I set Zeltron and Leviathan in the link markers!" Zeltron and Leviathan turned into blazing twisters and hit the bottom and bottom left of the square. "Link summon! Appear, Link 2! **Infernal Puppeteer Setral!** "

This monster shared many similarities with the card that came before it. It had its face nearly fully broken, the fire was attached like armour on its arms and upper body. The stings holding the puppet in place were fully severed, the monster was lying on the ground only its torso showing.

 **Infernal Puppeteer** **Setral, Link 2, Fiend, FIRE, Effect (0) Link Markers: Bottom and Bottom Right**

Akira sighed "That's it…Playmaker's finished." He then suddenly punched the cage "Damn him! Damn him! Why is he doing this?! He says he wants to release the data but he said earlier that he's known for a long time. All he's here for is to hide the truth!"

Behind him Colt looked totally despondent, he had removed his mask and was fiddling with it "Inferno…" He muttered making Akira turn to him.

"Nem?" He asked quietly and unsure of himself.

Colt gave a devastated look to his contractor and didn't even look like he was aware he was talking "Win at all costs… They'll come for me if I don't…" He sounded eerily similar to Mammon's breakdown the day prior

Zitor caught Colt in his peripheral vision _'So my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. That's means what Allen said is true.'_

Watching from her position just behind a barrier Blue Angel looked just as confused as her brother did _'What's going on with him? Why's he acting different all of a sudden? Is he a victim of one of these incidents just like Playmaker was?'_

"Setral's effect. Once per turn, by banishing one Infernal Puppeteer from my graveyard, I can target one monster you control who has less than 1500 attack points and take control of it until the end of the turn when it's destroyed! I banish Belphegor to take control of your Flame Administrator!"

Setral suddenly jumped to life and strings began to emerge from its back. They slinked their way to Playmaker's link monster pulling it to Zitor's side, linking to Setral's bottom marker.

"Without Flame Administrator on your field, your monster loses 800 attack points and mine gain that amount."

Decode's ATK: **3100 – 2300**

Setral's ATK: **0 – 800**

"Ascent to Heaven's effect! For the first time during a turn when a monster I control gains attack points you take damage equal to the amount of points gained!"

A beam shot out of the card and struck Playmaker hard, blowing him back a couple feet. Causing a digital shock to run through his system.

Playmaker's LP: **4000 – 3200**

"Lucifer's effect from the graveyard. I can banish this card from my graveyard to add one Infernal Puppeteer from my deck to hand." However said monster didn't last long "I now discard one monster from my hand to activate Ascent's second effect. For the rest of this turn my Infernal Puppeteer Link monster gains 200 attack points for each link marker on the field. If you recall, Setral has two, Administrator likewise. Finally Decode Talker has three. Leading to a grand total of seven. In layman's terms Setral will gain 1400 attack points!"

A light shone on Setral and the monster picked itself up from the ground, revealing that the bottom half of its body was non-existent

Setral's ATK: **800 – 2200**

'That's still not enough to get over Decode!' Ai shouted triumphantly.

Zitor laughed coldly in response "Who said I was done?" That caused Ai to recoil in shock "Descent like Ascent has another effect. By discarding one trap card from my hand, I can half Setral's attack points and have him attack you directly!"

Setral's ATK: **2200 – 1100**

'Ahhh!' Ai cried, then turned to the angered Playmaker 'D-Do something Playmaker! I don't want that creepy thing anywhere near me!'

But all Playmaker did was stand stock still "Battle! Infernal Puppeteer Setral attacks you directly! Blazing Manipulation!" Crawling out of the bottom of Setral's torso a set of torched strings phased right through Decode Talker and began to encircle Playmaker, they then closed in and grabbed a hold of Playmaker. Choking the life out of him as he fell yelling to the floor. His torso had been cut into with the digital blue data underneath showing.

Playmaker's LP: **3200 – 2100**

The attack left Playmaker on the ground for a considerable time, Zitor couldn't help but rub in his total control of the duel "Are you regretting that you thought you could beat me? This is my domain you are in. Like I said to you before we began, as long as you covet the data I will be here to repulse you." All of a sudden he looked Mammon levels of insane, running a hand through his overhanging hair "I warn you, Playmaker! If you stand it'll be your last today!"

Playmaker's outstretched hands curled into fists as he slowly pulled himself up, his eyes were shadowed "Lucifinia… No matter what you say, there is one thing you'll never understand. I will not be leaving here until I uncover the truth of ten years ago!" The look of pure rage and determination was strong enough to even unnerve the perpetually calm Zitor, who was taken aback.

Zitor grunted "Fine. So be it! I set one card facedown and end my turn. With the turn ending Setral's attack points return to normal and Flame Administrator is destroyed."

Setral's ATK: **1100 – 0**

Zitor's Cards x0

 **Turn 4**

"My turn! I draw! I summon Balancer Lord!" Balancer Lord was a knight with grey armour and a sword and shield.

 **Balancer Lord, Level 4, Cyberse, LIGHT, Effect (1700/** 1200)

"I activate my Continuous Trap, Limit Code! I put a limit counter on this card for every Cyberse Link monster in my graveyard! Due to your monster's effect, there is one Cyberse Link monster in my graveyard, Flame Administrator."

Limit Counters: **0 – 1**

"I then special summon a Code Talker from my extra deck and equip it with this card! I special summon Encode Talker from my extra deck!" The card that had successfully defeated both Blue Angel and Mammon took its position linked to Decode Talker.

 _ **Encode Talker, Link 3, LIGHT, Cyberse (**_ ** _2300_** _)_ _ **Link**_ **Markers: Top, Bottom and Bottom Right.**

"Decode's effect! It gains 500 attack points for each monster it's linked to! Power Integration!" The purple aura once again engulfed Decode Talker.

Decode's ATK: **2300 – 2800**

"Meaningless! It's all meaningless!" Zitor yelled manically "You cannot surpass my field! Once per turn Descent will negate your attack. Then I can use Setral's effect to block your attacks further!"

'Grrr! That man…' Ai grumbled 'He's so full of himself and annoying, but I hate to say it Playmaker, he's right. If you can't figure out a way around that combination of cards, then I may as well pack my bags.'

Zitor reverted from manic to calm "I've spent years perfecting this deck. This is the ultimate defence, simply put nothing can beat it. Everything is meaningless in comparison."

Playmaker looked confident "But it seems that you don't know of my true goal. I bet my future on this! Appear, the circuit that leads to the future! The summoning conditions are at least two monsters! I set Balancer Lord and Link 3 Encode Talker in the link markers!" Both monsters sped towards the gate in the sky.

"Link 4, eh? That can only mean one thing…" Zitor narrowed his eyes.

"Link summon! Appear, Link 4 Firewall Dragon!" Playmaker's ace dragon landed with a thud as it store down the head of development.

 **Firewall Dragon, Link 4, LIGHT, Cyberse, Effect (2500) Link Markers: Top, Bottom, Middle Left and Middle Right.**

Decode's ATK: **2300 – 2800**

"So you finally called upon it. Your ace monster that was able to defeat the leader of the Knights of Hanoi. Firewall Dragon… Truly an awe-inspiring monster."

"Here I go! From my hand, I activate the spell card, Linkage Hole! When I have a Link 4 or higher monster on my field. It destroys a monster on your field for every link 3 or higher monster on my field!" Zitor's face contorted momentarily.

From the cage, Akira looked just as confident as Playmaker "Just because Lucifinia's monsters can't be attacked, doesn't mean they can't be destroyed by other means. That's the weakness he was trying to hide. His monsters are vulnerable to card effects, all you have to do is kick the door in and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down on his head."

"I only need one! Since I control the Link 4 Firewall Dragon, I can destroy your Infernal Puppeteer!" A blast of energy struck Setral, annihilating the seemingly invincible monster, causing a blast to rock the area.

Ai was in a boisterous mood 'Now! Since you no longer control one of your Link monsters, your annoying spell and trap cards are destroyed and you take 500 points of damage for each!'

Both Ascent and Descent appeared then burst into particles. Said Particles then became energized and shocked Zitor, causing a tear in his clothing to appear, in contrast to Playmaker the data energy in Zitor's body was black.

Zitor's LP: **4000 – 3000**

The black haired male barely had enough time to pick himself up before Playmaker began his assault "Battle! Decode Talker attacks you directly!" With a huge slash, Decode struck deep into Zitor, knocking him back several feet onto his back. Smoke billowing out from the deep gash.

Zitor's LP: **3000 – 200**

"End this now, Firewall Dragon! Direct Attack." When the attack caused yet another large blast, practically everyone expected Zitor to be lying on the ground in defeat. However as the smoke cleared he stood, maintaining a remarkably calm look with a set of scales in front of him.

'W-What happened? He should have 0 Life Points!' Ai said in disbelief.

Zitor smiled smugly "I won't allow anyone to exert a sentence on me. Behold!" He threw out his arms dramatically "I activate the Trap **Final Judgment!** Now, during the turn I take damage from a direct attack, if I have three or more Infernal Puppeteers in my graveyard, I can summon one Link monster from my extra deck whose link is equivalent to the number in my graveyard. Currently, there are 4 monsters inhabiting it."

The scales began to catch fire, quickly becoming engulfed "Descend, Master of Hell itself! I summon Link 4 **Infernal Puppeteer Sendong!** "

The fire spooled into the air and from it came a pitch black gate with skulls adorning it. As the door cracked open, a set of blazing hands grabbed onto the sides. It then pulled the rest of the body out, showing off an inferno of blue flames attached to the monsters purple torso. Unlike Setral the bottom half of Sendong was very much a thing, blazing with ferocious black flames. The strings were coming out of every crack in the monster's tortured face.

 **Infernal Puppeteer Sendong, Link 4, FIRE, Fiend, Effect (0) Link Markers: Bottom left, Bottom Right, Top Left and Top Right.**

'What is with this guy's monsters?' Ai shivered 'There all so creepy, just like him!'

"The second effect of Final Judgment. The monster that dealt me battle damage this turn, is destroyed and I gain life points equal to half that monster's original attack points!" Decode was obliterated and a red aura surrounded Zitor.

Zitor's LP: **200 – 1350**

'The whole duel… Was it just a set up to this?' AI said.

"The question is, were we even on top to begin with? Were just playing his game?" Playmaker finished.

Colt had recovered enough to ask Akira a question when he noticed the other SOL official grimacing at the sight of Sendong "Is that his ace monster?"

"Yes. It is indeed." Akira said grimly "When he's summoned it, Lucifinia has never lost. It's essentially a win condition for him and the fact he manged to summon it on Playmaker's turn, puts Playmaker in deep trouble."

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Playmaker said begrudgingly.

Playmaker's cards x1

 **Turn 5**

"My turn! I draw!" Zitor didn't waste any time "Battle! Sendong attacks Firewall Dragon! Infernal manipulation!"

"What's he doing? His monster has 0 attack points and Playmaker's has 2500. He'll only kamikaze himself!" Colt either didn't pay attention during any of Zitor's turns or his memory of Inferno had given him short term memory loss.

"Sendong's effect! By banishing one Infernal Puppeteer monster from my graveyard I can make this monster's attack points equal to that of your monster's attack! As well as that, once per turn this card can't be destroyed in battle with another monster! I banish Leviathan from my graveyard!" The strings coming from Sendong's face dipped into the graveyard portal and pulled Leviathan out, proceeding to incinerate the monster gaining its strength.

Then it groaned ghoulishly and sped towards Firewall Dragon, its entire body fully engulfed in blue and black flames.

Sendong's ATK: **0 – 2500**

'This is bad! If we lose Firewall, we'll lose for sure!' Ai flapped his arms wildly.

"I know! I activate the trap, Doppler Phase Coating! I equip this card on Firewall Dragon!" A clear blue barrier appeared just in time to stop Sendong in its tracks "Doppler Phase Coating's effect! Once per turn, the equipped monster can't be destroyed in battle." Sendong retreated back to Zitor's side.

"Fine then. I activate Sendong's second effect. When the monster this card battles isn't destroyed, I can banish one monster from my graveyard to deal you damage equal to half that monster's attack points. Firewall has 2500 attack, which means you are taking 1250 points of damage!"

Playmaker's LP: **2100 – 850**

"I set one card facedown and end my turn. With it Sendong's attack returns to normal." The blazing flames died down and Sendong phased out of the physical world "Just as Zeltron and Setral, when Sendong is the only monster on my field, any attack is now directed to me."

Zitor's cards x0

 **Turn 6**

"Here I go! My turn, I draw!" Playmaker started.

However he was quickly cut off by Zitor "I activate the Trap, **Infernal Graveyard!** " This card showed Sendong's strings wrapping around multiple graves, each one baring the name of one of Zitor's Link monsters. The strings were just burrowing into Zeltron's grave. "I can only activate this card when I control a Link 4 monster. This card equips itself to my monster. The equipped monster can't be targeted nor destroyed by card effects. Also when all of the monster's Links are filled, I can send both cards and the monsters linked to it to the graveyard to deal you 4000 points of damage!"

'What?! That's not fair! If that card can't be destroyed by card effects then it's all but invincible!'

Zitor deadpanned at Ai's comment "That's the point. My victory is all but assured."

"But there's an issue isn't there, Lucifinia?" Akira said making Zitor turn to him "Two of the card's link markers point to Playmaker's side of the field. So unless you can find a way to fill those spaces, that effect won't activate."

All Akira received was an icy, venom laced tone of voice "Why don't you just zip it and watch quietly, Zaizen."

"I activate a Spell from my hand! Alert Lancer! When a Cyberse attacks a monster in defence mode this turn, it deals piercing damage!"

Ai's face lit up 'Wow! I never thought of it that way! So far all the monsters he has summoned have 0 attack and defence points! If we were take all his monsters being like that, if this coming attack lands you win, Playmaker!'

"Firewall Dragon attacks you directly!"

With little else to do, Zitor began his reply "Sendong's effect! Up to the number of free link markers this card has. I can summon one Infernal Puppeteer from my deck! I select **Infernal Puppeteer Asmodeus!** " Asmodeus was a lanky puppet with disproportionate arms and legs in comparison to its rather small torso, which was set ablaze in a sea of yellow flames.

 **Infernal Puppeteer Asmodeus, Level 4, FIRE, Fiend, Effect (** 0/ **0)**

'To quote yourself, "It's all meaningless." Due to Alert Lancer's effect, you'll take damage no matter what!' Ai mocked Zitor, failing to notice the head of development's almost eerily calm expression.

"I play the Continuous Trap **Infernal Guard!"** The card showed, seven monsters. Three of them were Zitor's Link monsters, Zeltron, Setral and Sendong who were in the foreground. Behind them there were four shadowy figures with piercing blood red eyes, they seemed to be protecting the monsters in the foreground. "Like my other traps, this card will be destroyed when I control no Link monsters and I take 500 points of damage. However, this allows me once per turn to negate any battle damage I take from the destruction of a monster in my main monster zone!"

Firewall's attack landed and Asmodeus was obliterated. However, it was all meaningless in the eyes of Zitor who stood stock still as the blast forked in front of him leaving him completely untouched.

'He dodged it again?!' Ai gurned 'Does this guy ever accept when he's bound to lose?'

"You can try as hard as you want. I won't let anyone beat me!"

"I end my turn." Playmaker said, frustrated by Zitor's stalling tactics.

Playmaker's cards x0

 **Turn 7**

"My turn, I draw! This card shall drag you further into the abyss! I activate the Continuous Spell **Blazing Deprivation!** " Sendong stood front and centre of this card. The ghastly ignited strings descended upon a group of unsuspecting monsters, sucking them dry of any life "I needn't tell you this card's downside. But its upside will be revealed to you very shortly."

"Battle! Sendong attacks Firewall Dragon! Infernal Manipulation!" As the strings stretched out Zitor continued "As you already know, by banishing one Infernal Puppeteer from my graveyard, Sendong gains the attack points of a monster it is attacking. I release Asmodeus from my graveyard to gain Firewall's attack."

Sendong repeated the progress it did last time as it powered up once more.

Sendong's ATK: **0 – 2500**

'But that means nothing! With Doppler Phase Coating, Firewall can survive your monster's attack and we take no damage!'

"Deprivation's effect! By banishing one monster from my graveyard, I can lower your monsters attack points by 500 points during damage calculation!"

Firewall's ATK: **2500 – 2000**

"I mightn't be able to destroy that card, but I can still deal you damage!" The strings phased through the barrier and scorched Playmaker's arms, causing the hacker to recoil in pain.

Playmaker's LP: **850 – 350**

"Due to other factors, I won't activate Sendong's second effect. However, I will activate Sendong's third effect! When this monster successfully deals you battle damage, I can summon one Infernal Puppeteer from my deck next to one of this cards Link Markers! I summon my second Lucifer! Lucifer's effect activates. I add one Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand."

 **Infernal Puppeteer Lucifer, Level 4, Fiend, FIRE, Effect (0/** 0 **)**

Akira narrowed his eyes, as too did Playmaker _'What's he planning?'_

"I activate the Continuous Spell **String Generator!** Once per turn I can summon one Infernal Token to either player's field! I summon the Token to your field next to Sendong's Link Marker!" The Infernal Token was in essence a smaller version of Sendong. "I end my turn with that."

Sendong's ATK: **2500 – 0**

'This is really bad, Playmaker!'

"Infernal Guard allows him to negate any damage he takes, while on the next turn Deprivation will decrease Firewall's attack again, meaning if he gets an attack off, he'll deal 500 points of damage which is enough to finish me off. To make matters worse, if he fills all of Sendong's Links, Infernal Graveyard's effect will activate and he wins as well." Playmaker explained his dire situation.

'Then do something about it!' Ai shouted, totally panic stricken. 'But can anything be done?'

"Stop panicking. That's what he wants you to do." Playmaker mirrored Zitor's expression, leaving an unsettling aura of unnatural calm to descend over the whole databank. "Are you really an Ai?"

'Why are you so calm?! I'm panicking because I know the odds of defeat! Can you turn this around?'

Playmaker looked apathetic at best "If you're that worried, then think about your new home."

Ai couldn't believe what he was hearing 'You're fine if he breaks apart our passionate friendship?'

"There is no friendship between us." Apparently the word subtle wasn't in Playmaker's dictionary.

Ai froze in place 'You're colder than an Ai.' He muttered.

"I don't need warmth from people. Why don't you act like an Ai and explain the cards."

'Fine! I'll talk like an AI!' Ai then proceeded to rip the ass out of other AIs '"Stupid" is a forbidden word. And our chances of winning our less than 5%.'

"No, our odds are much lower than that. But I'll say one thing. If you're worried that I'll lose, you don't need to. Because I definitely won't lose. Not until I uncover the truth with my own hands." Playmaker clenched his fist "This deck contains my feelings of the past ten years. I will find the truth!"

Zitor's cards x0

 **Turn 8**

"I draw!" Playmaker declared at a crescendo of emotion.

"This card shall decide whether or not you can uncover the truth!" Zitor said as Playmaker looked longingly at his drawn card "Well, Playmaker?"

"I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Zitor closed his eyes "I see. You truly can't do anything to beat me. Looks like the truth of ten years ago shall remain in our databank. After all, it was meaningless in the first place. It is simply your destiny." He opened his eyes again "Now is the time for your path to end. If you leave now, I will bear no ill will. I myself intend to release the data after this, I'll handle this from here. I won't allow someone like you who has a future to ruin it by pursuing revenge. I ask you once more, leave this place so you can continue your future."

Just as Playmaker was about to respond Blue Angel came out of hiding "Playmaker!" she said.

"Aoi?!" Akira said, pushing up against the bars "Get back! This place isn't safe!"

Blue Angel seemingly didn't hear Akira "Before this duel is over, I want to know what happened ten years ago. The true story, only." She looked at Playmaker "Playmaker, since you showed up Link VRAINS has changed dramatically. I don't know what I duel for anymore. But if I learn what's going on, if I know what you're fighting for… I feel like I can move forward. Tell me, Playmaker."

Before Akira could get another word in, Zitor was there to block this desire "This is none of your concern!"

"Hold it…" Playmaker muttered.

'I wish to know too, Playmaker.' Ai said. 'Because there is no way this man doesn't know what happened as well. Your secret will be revealed soon.'

Zitor growled for a bit but calmed down "Alright then. I'll tell you what happened. Ten years ago, an incident occurred it is known as the "Lost Incident." A group of children went missing one by one. A certain organisation kidnapped them."

"It sounds just like that Inferno Project you talked about earlier." Blue Angel said.

"Indeed, it was a very similar event. One of the children kidnapped during the Lost incident was no other than the person standing opposite me in this duel."

Blue Angel's eyes widened in shock "No way! You were a victim, Playmaker?!"

"Stop, Lucifinia. I don't wish for you to tell others my past."

"Playmaker…" Blue Angel etched out.

"After we were kidnapped, we were imprisoned separately." Playmaker thought back to the stark white room that he had spent those fateful days entrapped in "The room contained nothing. Except for VR equipment. The VR showed a duel arena. We were forced to duel there." He then remembered the robotic voice saying _"You Lose!"_ Then the crippling pain that came from the shocks. "We could only eat, sleep and duel. This repeated every day. Everything was based on dueling. If we don't win a duel, we don't get to eat." He snapped out of his flashback "When could we leave? How long could we live? We just kept dueling, worried because we knew nothing."

"How horrible… Who would do something like that to children?" Blue Angel said as every failed to notice the subconscious twitch of Zitor's visible eye.

"No one told us where we were or how long we've been held captive."

Zitor cut in "Yet, half a month after the incident started, it suddenly ended without warning."

" _You can go home. You gave it your all."_ Came the voice from Playmaker's memories. The next thing he knew, three men entered the room dashing to his aid. Taking him out alongside the other victims of the incident.

"You were rescued. But the identity of the main culprit still remains clocked in shadows." Zitor's eye twitched again "The incident was covered up, so the media didn't raise a fuss."

Blue Angel stepped forward "Since you know so much, does that mean you know Playmaker's true identity?"

'H-Hold up!' Ai interjected.

Zitor's expression gave nothing away, it was only after a prolonged silence did he speak. His voice as cold as ice "Yes, I know exactly who Playmaker really is."

Everyone wore an expression of pure shock, Ai was the only one to speak 'Wait! What! How is that even possible?'

"I don't have to say how I know that. In fact under the company's data protection laws I'm legally not allowed to say."

'Phew. Our cover was almost fully blown there.' Ai said.

"Do you really believe we were saved from the incident?" Playmaker asked Zitor who just looked blankly at him "We weren't saved!"

"I have the right to know what the incident's mission was!" Playmaker barked "One: That incident tore apart my life. I'll prevent you from hiding the truth and reconnect my life that was torn apart! Two: That incident deeply hurt us and our families. Some still haven't recovered from the shock. I'll learn the truth for them and their families! Three! During those hellish days, when my heart was about to break…" He thought back to the numerous the voice had given him strength "Whoever kept encouraging me, wasn't among the people rescued. If he's still captured, I have to rescue him! The incident ten years ago hasn't ended for me!"

"There's a great irony here, Playmaker." Zitor started "You said your life was torn apart by that incident. But for something to tear in the first place requires it to be whole at the start. From what I can gather you led a normal life until the incident."

Playmaker ignored Zitor "After the incident. To heal the wounds in my heart, I received treatment for years. I also tried hard to forget that incident. But no matter how much time passed, I couldn't forget. Those horrible memories were burned into my eyes, feasting on my heart. It became my flesh and blood that I couldn't dig out. When I realised that, I decided to face my own destiny. You said earlier that I'll ruin my future by seeking revenge. I have no future, only destiny. When I investigated the incident, I found something. The Lost incident had another name, one you have called it by. The Hanoi Project!"

"Hanoi Project?" Blue Angel questioned "The Knights of Hanoi have something to do with the Lost incident?"

"That's why I'm after Hanoi." Playmaker told Blue Angel

'Hanoi Project…' Ai said, deep in thought.

"It's understandable for you to think that. However, your knowledge of the incident will only stretch so far." Zitor said, with a slight hint of smugness.

The head of development's comments confused Playmaker "What do you mean?"

"The name of the project's mastermind is in this data." That sentence sent shockwaves through everyone in the room.

"What?" Playmaker looked irate beyond belief as his pupils shrunk "Who is it?!" As Zitor remained silent, Playmaker got even more desperate "Who is it?! Answer me, Lucifinia!"

Zitor sighed "It's all meaningless. I can't tell you. In addition if I were to tell you who it was it'll only inflame your desire for revenge. I'll end it here and now!"

'You two are on parallel tracks, Playmaker.'

"Seems so."

'Our opinions match for the first time! I'm touched!' Ai said, the lines on his face moulding into what could be considered a smile.

Playmaker's cards x0

 **Turn 9**

"All I have to do is draw a monster and your journey ends. I draw!" Everyone held their breath as Zitor drew, then there was silence "Consider yourself lucky, the card I drew was a Spell card so I can't trigger Infernal Graveyard's effect this turn."

Colt having stayed silent for a long time, perked up to depict Playmaker's situation "It doesn't matter about that though. He may not be able to use his trap's effect but with Playmaker's life dangling by a thread, all he has to do is declare an attack and his spell will suck Playmaker dry."

"This is the final attack! Battle! Sendong attacks Firewall Dragon! Now, Sendong's effect! I banish my third copy of Lucifer to increase Sendong's attack points!"

Sendong's ATK: **0 – 2500**

"Deprivation's effect! I banish Belphegor to lower Firewall's attack to 2000!"

Firewall's ATK: **2500 – 2000**

The strings slinked their way to Firewall Dragon "It's over Playmaker!"

'What are you going to do, Playmaker?'

"Just be quiet."

'You should be panicking more!'

"The Quick Play Spell, Cynet backdoor! By banishing a Cyberse monster on my field I can add a Cyberse in my deck with lower attack to my hand. The banished monster to my field next turn and it can attack you directly. I banish Firewall Dragon!" Firewall slipped into the graveyard portal before the strings could wrap around it. "I add Draconet from my deck to my hand."

'Hey! If you banish Firewall, his attack will come to us!' Ai flapped his arms wildly.

"No. Since Doppler Phase Coating is no longer equipped, it goes to the graveyard and its effect activates. When this card leaves the field during the battle phase, the battle phase ends!" A barrier appeared around Playmaker protecting him from Sendong's raging strings.

'You just may survive!' Ai gloated

' _He was able to change the situation with just one card?'_ Blue Angel thought.

' _When the banished Firewall Dragon returns to the field next turn, it can attack him directly, if that happens Playmaker wins.'_ Colt deduced _'It'll be one hell of a comeback.'_

"Damn you." Zitor growled with Sendong returning back to normal "String Generator's effect! I summon one Infernal Token to my field!" The token appeared next to Sendong's bottom right link marker.

'Ha! It is all pointless! It's over next turn anyway!'

"How sure of that are you?" Zitor asked slyly "I will not be defeated! I activate the Field Spell **Blazing Circuit!** " There was barely anytime to see what the card looked like before purple flames spewed from the card, scorching a circle into the ground that had a star right in the middle "When I control three Infernal Puppeteers on my field, any battle damage I take from a direct attack becomes 0!"

"What?" Playmaker was taken aback as was everyone else.

'We can't attack again! Ah! This is so frustrating!'

"On my next turn without a doubt, Infernal Graveyard will end you. I pass it over to you for your last fateful turn."

Zitor's cards x0

Kitamura looked as happy as he could possibly be "Good, good, good. That's right, Lucifinia. Don't give him that data!" He took a deep breath then it looked like his face stopped functioning _'SOL Technologies' secret. If I get it, I'll have a trump card to use against the higher ups! That'll get me a promotion for sure! Do it Lucifinia, get me my promotion!'_

Playmaker store Zitor down "Lucifinia, this is a duel for justice. A duel for the truth of ten years ago."

"I'm aware of that. That's the reason I'm here after all, my pride is on the line here too. It is for those reasons I will not lose." Zitor placed a hand on his hips "The people responsible for your incident ten years will be found and brought to justice."

"No. You don't know anything. I'll win this because this a duel for the truth and justice! I don't trust anything but my own justice!"

"Heh." Zitor scoffed "Justice? You think invading a company's private data bank is justice? Let's dissect this situation shall we?"

'Does this guy ever close his mouth?' Ai moaned only to get a glare from Playmaker in response.

"You are a victim from ten years ago, you wish to see the people responsible held to account. However, all your so called justice is based on an assumption. That the Knights of Hanoi do in fact have something to do with that incident. For the sake of argument, let's say they don't. You've been attacking innocent people, is that justice? I don't think it is."

"Lucifinia…" Playmaker growled.

"Now. Why I'm here, I am here because I also seek justice for the children of Hanoi. But I also have another motive. Within the bank is also data on the Inferno Project, the incident that stole my son from me. I seek true justice, wanting every person involved in these heinous schemes to be brought to justice. But what do you seek? You seek self-satisfaction. You seek revenge not justice. People other than you hold no worth, in your world there are three people. 'I, me and myself.' Does that sound right?"

Everyone remained silent, Playmaker's face contorted in rage before he spoke in pure unadulterated rage "Lucifinia, I've said this before. No matter how much you say, you know nothing about me or my goals! I'll defeat you and finally have closure on the incident ten years ago!"

 **Turn 10**

"My turn! I draw! Cynet backdoor's effect! The banished Firewall Dragon returns to the field!" Firewall Dragon re-appeared from the ether "Next I summon Draconet!"

 **Draconet, Level 3, DARK, Cyberse, Effect (1400** /1200 **)**

"Draconet's effect now activates! When it is summoned, I can special summon a level 2 or lower monster from my hand or deck in defence mode! I special summon Bitron from my deck in defence mode!"

 **Bitron, Level 2, EARTH, Cyberse** (200/ **2000** )

"Appear! The circuit that leads to the future! I set Bitron in the Link marker! Link summon! Link 1, Link Spider!"

 **Link Spider, Link 1, EARTH, Effect, Cyberse (1000) Link Markers: Bottom**

Zitor narrowed his eyes "Just what are you planning, Playmaker?"

"Link Spider's effect! Once per turn, I can special summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand next to its Link. I special summon Digitron from my hand!"

 **Digitron, Level 2, EARTH, Cyberse** ( **1500** /0)

"Appear again! The circuit that leads to the future! The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters! I set Digitron and Bitron in the Link markers! Link summon! Appear, Link 2! Recovery Sorcerer!" Recovery Sorcerer looked to be a more evolved and advanced version of Cyberse Wizard, being clad in golden armour and having blue hair.

 **Recovery Sorcerer, Link 2, LIGHT, Effect, Cyberse (1500) Link Markers: Middle Left and Bottom**

"Appear for the third time! The circuit that leads to the future!" The stripe on Playmaker's bodysuit glowed.

"Triple Link summon?!" Blue Angel said, mouth agape.

"Pointless! No matter how many monsters you summon, it doesn't matter! You're only digging your own grave!" Zitor shouted manically.

Playmaker continued, undeterred by Zitor "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one Cyberse Link monster! I set Link Spider in the Link marker! Appear, Link 1! Security Gardna!" Security Gardna was a robotic monster with white and blue armour.

 **Security Gardna, Link 1, LIGHT, Effect, Cyberse (1000) Link Markers: Middle Right**

"This card can't be used for Link summons and only one Security Gardna can be face up on my field at a time. I place Security Gardna on the field here!" The location of the monster was a shock to everyone. It had been placed right next to Sendong's last open Link.

' _Three Link summons, an impressive feat. However, he made a fatal miscalculation, he placed his card next to Sendong. My victory is now certain.'_ Zitor thought "The effect of Infernal Graveyard! Since you summoned your Link monster next to Sendong, it means all monsters next to its links and itself will now be destroyed. I destroy Sendong, Lucifer, two Infernal tokens and Security Gardna! You now take 4000 points of damage!" The monsters evaporated and fed into Sendong, who charged up as the strings swirled together fully torched.

The impact caused a giant cloud of smoke to appear, leaving Playmaker's fate briefly unknown, while Sendong shattered as too did Zitor's Spell and Trap cards.

"No way… Did Playmaker lose?" Colt said in disbelief.

"The deed has been done, Playmaker has been defeated." Zitor began to walk away before a voice called him back.

"Are you sure about that?" Low and behold Playmaker was alive and well.

'Ta daa! We survived!' Ai looked around for any applause and acted fully like a magician.

Zitor's eyes twitched and for the first time his hidden eye was visible, it showed the bottom of what appeared to be a scar "Impossible! Infernal Graveyard's effect should've-"

Ai danced 'But we didn't take the effect!'

"When Security Gardna is special summoned effect damage becomes 0 that turn. It negated the damage to me!" Playmaker finished resolutely causing Zitor for the first time in a while to lose his cool completely.

"Security Gardna has that effect?!" Zitor grasped the side of his head "Impossible!"

'Ha ha! You fell for it!" Ai gloated again. 'We did it Playmaker! See that? He was fooled by my excellent acting!'

"Due to your horrible acting, he was only a second or two away from figuring out what I was up to." Playmaker crushed Ai's sense of self-esteem swiftly.

'Looks like I won't win the acting award for best AI.' Ai said in a depressed tone

"With Sendong leaving the field, your Spell and Trap cards are now destroyed and the downsides now trigger. You lose 1000 Life points."

Zitor's LP: **1350 – 350**

"Also with the destruction of your monsters. Infernal Circuit's effect will now end. So I can now attack!" The circle below the field vanished, leaving Zitor completely open for an attack.

'Your times up! We've won!'

Zitor shook, to him this was his moment of realisation "Go ahead, Playmaker. You've won, just end it here."

"Battle!" Playmaker declared "Firewall Dragon attacks you directly! Tempest Attack!" Zitor made no move to get out of the way, instead the red glow that had trapped Akira and Colt reappeared on his hand. The glow evaporated from his hand and the cage dissolved just as the attack landed, knocking the head of development to the ground.

Zitor's LP: **350 – 0**

Playmaker: **Win!**

"Incredible. He made a comeback from that dire situation." Colt said in disbelief as Playmaker walked closer "He really is an impressive duelist. However, since he's now won no one else may be able to quench his desire for revenge."

Playmaker walked calmly past the deflated Zitor "As promised, I'm taking the data." The floor to the data reappeared allowing him to cross over the formerly bottomless pit. Blue Angel also ran off to the side of her brother

"Ai, eat as much as you want."

'Playmaker, what did you just say? Did you say my name?'

"Hurry up."

'Okay, okay. Sheesh. Leave it to me!' The dark shadows poured out of the disk and Ai became its monstrous form 'I'll eat everything!' He descended head first into the databank, proceeding to eat any file he could lay his eye upon before returning back to Playmaker's disk patting what could be considered its stomach 'I ate a lot. I'm stuffed.'

Akira walked up to Playmaker "Is it true what Lucifinia said, Playmaker? You really were a victim of ten years ago?"

"Zaizen, stay away from the incident and from me."

As Playmaker walked past him, Zitor called out to the hacker, staggering to his feet "Playmaker! Don't you dare misuse that data, I may have been beaten this time but if I even catch sight of you wasting it. I'll happily reveal who you are to everyone." Even in defeat, Zitor couldn't handle not being in control in some facet. "Kuso yarō." He spat.

Playmaker just looked at Zitor, not responding as the winds of the data storm swept into the room. Appearing on his D-board as it raced by, he vanished into the distance.

"I'm off too." Colt said, placing the mask back on his face he looked at Blue Angel "Next time I say something, how about you follow it?" Before Akira could reprimand him, Colt dissolved away.

"Aoi." He then turned his attention to Blue Angel "Why did you follow us here?"

Blue Angel looked unsure of herself "I…"

"The road to this place is very dangerous, you could've been hurt."

Suddenly, she had a burst of courage "I'm old enough to make my decisions for myself. Explain to me, why do you insist on keeping me locked up?"

"Aoi…" Akira muttered "I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt, I do it to protect you. Ever since our parents died, I told myself that I would let any harm come to the six year old you. I wouldn't let you be unhappy in any way."

"You really think that why about me?" Akira nodded making Blue Angel smile "At least I know why now. You needn't have any more concerns."

 **(SOL Technologies)**

Kitamura kicked his desk furiously "Lucifinia, you're worthless! How could you allow Playmaker to steal our company's data?!" He started to pace about "If others find out, I'll no longer be security manager! No one must know! No one! No one!"

From outside, the workers walking past could hear the muffled screaming "I think I hear something." One said "Playmaker must have stolen the data."

Once more the chess board was laid out, however this time there was no one there apart from the three higher-ups. "Playmaker succeeded in the heist of our data. Lucifinia failed to stop him." Rook said.

"He now has the information on both Hanoi and Inferno. What do you think we should do about this? Should we call Lucifinia back here for punishment?" Knight interjected.

"Demotion maybe?" Rook suggested

It took Bishop a while to respond "No. Lucifinia will be more than punished when Playmaker reads that data. He's too valuable a piece for us to lose, he'll remain in his post for the time being."

* * *

Yusaku couldn't even walk fully out of the access door due to his physical weakness "Are you okay, Yusaku?" Shoichi asked concerned for his wellbeing.

"Shoichi…" Yusaku was able to etch out in between haggard breaths.

"You did well." The purple haired male said with a smile.

'And it was all thanks to me!' Ai wanted to grow his ego just a little bit further.

"Yeah. You did great too."

'Hooray! He praised me! Hooray! Yeah!'

"Shoichi, analyse this immediately."

Soon enough, Ai was back to his eye form and complaining readily 'You're going to look at my private parts again?'

Then multiple files appeared on the screen "A file on the incident should be here somewhere."

Working their way through the files, the two chanced upon the one file that could solve everything "Shoichi! This one!"

Once clicking the file, a picture popped up, one of the founder of the Knights of Hanoi. Dr Kogami, the title gave everything away 'Director' "Dr Kogami. Kiyoshi Kogami. Planned and executed the Hanoi Project."

"He's the Hanoi Project's mastermind?" Yusaku spat in barely contained rage.

"This man is… A researcher at SOL Technologies."

Dragging the file over to the side a second file was opened up. This one showed the picture and name of the main backer of the project, the man who had funded the project and kept it hidden for the duration of the project. He appeared to be in his late thirties to early forties, he had royal blue hair that was swept neatly to his right. His pale skin was in direct contrast to his purple eyes. He seemed to be wearing a black robe with grey shoulder pads underneath was a blue tie.

"Director Marlon. Dantous Marlon." Shoichi spoke the name, only just hiding his hatred "It says here that he was the Legal Director of the company."

Ai looked around at the blank faces 'You don't seem very surprised by this.'

"I expected something like this, that's why SOL Technologies had this data to begin with." Yusaku replied.

"It says that while Dr Kogami planned and executed the project by himself, Director Marlon protected the Project from coming under any scrutiny, he would also provide the funds to keep the Project going. But due to a whistle blower, SOL Technologies found about their plan."

'Was it really just those two? Maybe people like Zaizen and that Lucifinia creep were involved?' Ai narrowed his eye.

"For Zaizen, that's a negative. Ten years ago, Zaizen was 16 He hadn't joined SOL Technologies yet. However, for Lucifinia that isn't so clear. As he said in your duel, he was 26 ten years ago and could very well have worked for SOL."

'Yeah, you're right.'

"SOL Technologies feared the consequences of their actions if it was exposed, so they covered it up. Can you see if they still work at SOL now?"

After a moment, Shoichi replied "The majority of the staff back then are now all retried."

"What was the incident's mission?"

"It doesn't say." Then something on the screen made Shoichi's mouth fall agape "What's this?!" Once viewing it, Yusaku's mouth also fell to his feet.

'What is it?' Ai asked noticing the reactions around him.

Shoichi was the one to respond "Seven years ago, Dr Kogami died. Four years later, Director Marlon also passed away from an unknown illness."

 **(Hanoi)**

In the lower echelons of the base, Revolver and Dr Kogami descended the spiral staircase into the depths below. The centre gave way to a massive bottomless pit which had this strange blue light glowing in it.

"This power… A new fight is beginning."

"Yes." Dr Kogami pulled something out of his pocket, keeping it clenched in his fist for the time being "When this seed bears Hanoi's fruit." Opening his palm, a small cube of data was present "That's the end of Link VRAINS- No, the whole network world. To achieve this long cherished dream, I resurrected from the dead." He then dropped the cube down the hole. "Dantous, my friend. This is only the beginning, SOL may have silenced both of us but they will not be able to stop this dream any longer."

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah... I'm a bit of a liar. I got this done way faster than I thought I would, even with my revision accounted for. Don't expect me to do this again.**

 **Moving swiftly on:**

 **I went through about five different designs of Zitor's deck before settling on Infernal Puppeteer. The base idea was always there, the idea of total damage negation it was just the design I struggled with.**

 **So, big twist! Sateriasis' father was involved in the Hanoi Project. His presence there will be explained in later chapters.**

 **I've made the decision that I will accept OCs. If you want to have it included then send me a PM.**

 **Okay this time round, I will not be back for two months. See ya.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Man proposes, God disposes**

 **(Flashback, ten years ago)**

The first thing he remembered hearing was the sound of sirens and a beeping heart monitor. Then came the sound of a foreign voice "Hey! Kid! Kid! Are you awake?"

He remembers opening his eyes and seeing several doctors either standing near the gurney he was on or pressing their faces over his. When they saw the flicker, one of them declared "He's awake!"

It was a confusing experience for Sateriasis to say the least, the last thing he could think of was the walls of an encased room and the everlasting darkness that belonged to the hellish Inferno Project. "Hey, do you remember your name?"

"…" For a while Sateriasis couldn't answer, to the doctors it was likely due to the shock of the event. But the reason was far more dire than that "I'm sorry." His voice was weak "I don't know my name."

The doctors exchanged perturbed glances "Okay. Do you know who your parents are at least?"

"I… I don't know." He whimpered, the doctors looked at him solemnly, saying nothing as they went back to check his other vital signs.

That left the young Sateriasis enough time to look over himself, however, all that it did was further compound the sheer terror he had every time he thought back to his time in Inferno. On his right hand, the tattoo he had woken with the first time he awoke in Inferno was still there.

The intricate blue design, looked like it had been planned days prior to his abduction. He would later learn that it was meant to represent the vice he supposedly possessed, the vice he was to embrace if he ever hoped that he would escape from the place. At least that's what the computerised voice told him.

Next, he couldn't help but be sickened when he saw the numerous deep scars that adorned his arms. Every single last indent was a reminder of each successive failure he had, every single defeat at the hands of the Ai. Each time following the shocks that scorched his body, something would appear into his chamber. The hellish contraption that caused all of this.

 **(Hanoi)**

A hand on his shoulder kicked Sateriasis out of his flashback and back into present time. "Are you okay, Sateriasis?" Came Baira's voice, trying her best to sooth him.

"Yes." He said quickly, far too quickly for it to be a natural reaction. Even with his voice being altered, there were times when his natural emotions would bleed through. Baira noticed this.

"You're thinking about that horrific project again, aren't you?" She sounded glum, Mammon still hadn't turned round to face her. The fact he didn't even respond didn't help her feel any better.

"The Inferno project…" Baira muttered, causing Mammon to turn his head slightly "The second project to attempt to give free will to Ai. The main culprit is still unknown but the evidence suggests them having been employed at SOL Technologies ten years ago and them having knowledge of the Hanoi Project." Mammon had fully turned around by this point "The children of Inferno and Hanoi both experienced unimaginable torture, you're lucky to have survived for as long as you did."

Mammon was silent for the moment, simply staring at Baira "You can tell us about anything. There's no point in suffering by yourself. Tell me wh-"

She was cut off at that point "No. No matter what you say to try and make me feel any better, no matter how much you all claim to understand my suffering. You can't possibly understand. The Hanoi project and the Inferno project are different. They may have the same goal, but the process of getting there was far different."

"Sateriasis…" Baira watched guilt ridden as Mammon walked straight past her, not caring to look back as he vanished from the base.

Just afterwards Faust came into the picture "Don't bother him about it. He'll tell us, whenever he wants too."

* * *

 **(Den City Plaza)**

"Hey, welcome back!" Shoichi greeted Colt, who had returned this time not on an errand run because of Emma. "I didn't catch your name last time."

"Shaytan. Nem Shaytan. Pleasure to make your acquaintance…" Nem trailed off for Shoichi to respond.

"Shoichi Kusanagi. And likewise I'm pleased to me you." Shoichi replied with a smile on his face. "What would you like this time round?"

"I'll just take a regular one again but could you add some more ketchup this time round?" Nem asked, still not having gotten over the less than satisfactory amount on the previous one he had.

"Just for you this time round?" Shoichi said as he started to grill the frankfurter.

"Yeah. My friend isn't exactly in the greatest of conditions at this point of time." It was true, when he had attempted to enter Emma's room the day following her failed endeavour to duel Playmaker. Nem found her unconscious on her couch. "She issued her challenge to Playmaker, only for someone else to come and usurp that chance." Nem's voice turned cold towards the end as his mind flashed back to Mammon.

His marked change of tone was evident to Shoichi and to Yusaku who was once again sitting nearby, working on finding a lead on Hanoi.

"When exactly was this 'challenge' issued, if I may asked?" Shoichi asked, trying not to arouse Nem's suspicions.

"Why are you so curious?" Unfortunately, it didn't really work out as the long haired male caught wind quickly.

"Well, I'm just curious y'know. Whenever something concerns Playmaker it's usually very interesting and as a fan of Playmaker myself, I try my best to keep up date with whatever is going on." Shoichi tried to evade saying anything incriminating, all the while avoiding Nem's piercing glare.

There was a moment of silence before Nem sighed "Ah, sorry about that." He said, regretful "It's really a trivial issue, if I'm correct in my recall it was only about a couple of days ago. When exactly? I don't remember."

Shortly afterwards, the hot dog was finished and under Nem's demands/pleas, the thing was soon majority ketchup, something that when questioned about Nem said "It's just the way I like it." He waved goodbye to Shoichi and walked off into the distance.

As soon as he was a safe distance away and the business part of the truck was closed, Yusaku came up to Shoichi, who invited him inside as they went into the back. The first thing they did was discuss what just happened.

"It's evident that the friend that he talked about was Ghost girl, meaning that he too is employed by SOL technologies." Yusaku said.

However it was rather confusing to Ai, who was still in the dark 'How can you be so sure about that?'

"Three reasons. 1: He had previously come to us before, in that conversation he had mentioned that he had a friend about to duel Playmaker, Ghost girl's invitation was sent the same day. 2: Just now, as he talked about what happened he had an obvious tonal shift as he mentioned the addition of another person. That person in question who interrupted our planned duel was Mammon, meaning he was watching the situation. Finally, 3: His 'friend' is 'sick', according to what Mammon told me, Ghost girl is unconscious and given my prior two points I would believe it would be safe to assume, he is a SOL hunter too."

'Oh, that makes sense…' Ai moped, not pleased he didn't put two and two together.

"But it begs the question, who is he in Vrains?" Shoichi asked.

Yusaku cupped his chin in thought "As of right now, I don't believe we have enough information to say for certain, but he will certainly make himself known soon."

The topic of conversation soon switched "I've got something I want to show you." Shoichi brought up a spectrograph.

Ai eyed the program 'What's so interesting about that? It just looks like a bunch of lines to me.'

"I've been working for a while now to try and decode the true voice of Mammon. He uses very advanced voice modulation software, so it's taken me a while to crack it but I think I've gotten through."

'Ah! That's great! With this, we'll be one step closer to catching that maniac in real life!' Ai said, dancing at the prospect.

When they played back the unaltered voice, it made Yusaku and Ai's ears prick up. Shoichi noticed this "Have you heard that voice before then, Yusaku?"

Yusaku closed his eyes "It's familiar to me, but I can't put my finger on who it belongs to." Ai nodded his head too as the voice's owner alluded him as well.

* * *

 **(Flashback)**

Sateriasis clung tightly to his father's robes. The room was filled with the brim of people, his father had been invited to attend the promotion party of a rising star. The director looked down to his petrified son "Sateriasis." His voice firm yet caring "You can't cling to me forever, no man is an island, sooner rather than later you're going to have to branch out, I can't always be there, without proper support a building cannot sustain itself."

Sateriasis was about to reply when he cut off when the person the party was held for came over. "Dantous, my friend! It's a pleasure to see you!" The new head of development stuck out his hand cordially.

"Likewise, Zitor. Congratulations on your promotion." It was after the two finished shaking hands, that another noise, one that sounded an awful lot like a second child. Something that puzzled both Sateriasis and his father as the two looked around for the origin.

However, that search didn't last long when Zitor started to laugh "Apologies for that." He then looked down to his leg "Come on out, Allen. There's no need to be afraid."

Allen slowly edged out from behind Zitor's leg, looking uncomfortable at every single step he took. Wanting desperately to retreat back to his father. "H-Hello…" He stammered out as Sateriasis watched on.

"I thought that it would be best for him to come with me, so he could meet somebody. I may be naïve but I hoped he'd make a friend or two." Zitor explained as he caught sight of Sateriasis "I see you've brought your son too."

Dantous nudged Sateriasis off his robes and closer to Allen "I believe we both have similar reasons."

"Ah, isn't it wonderful how great minds think alike." Zitor said "Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like to discuss something with you, _privately._ Well, as private as it can be."

The director nodded, but as the two of them went to move, both of their sons swiftly clutched onto anything tangible "Please don't go!" Allen yelled, while Sateriasis teared up.

"Listen to me." Zitor said raising his hand "Dantous and I have some business to discuss, I think you'd both find it awful dull. Why don't you two keep each other company?"

The two children relented and their fathers were able to move off to a less crowded place. Allen and Sateriasis eyed one another nervously, nevertheless the pair wished to fulfil what was expected of them.

"Hi there…" Sateriasis said quietly "My name is S-Sateriasis M-Marlon."

"A-Allen L-Lucifinia." Allen said, even though he wasn't paying any attention to Sateriasis, instead looking longingly in the other direction.

That was the height of their conversation.

* * *

Things between Sateriasis and Allen had progressed a lot since then. Being that their fathers were often together to talk about business, they became quite familiar with each other.

"You're a dickhead, Sat." However, that didn't really mean they were the best of friends. Allen was currently holding an icepack to his eye, whilst Sateriasis merely scoffed in response.

"And you're a whiny bastard, Allen." Both of them had traits that drove their opposite number up the wall. For Sateriasis, it was Allen being a vain, egotistical moaner. For Allen, it was Sateriasis' incorrigible avarice and sadistic streak.

Currently they were both making their way to the hospital. Partially because Allen insisted on getting his eye checked out to make sure Sateriasis hadn't ruptured any part of it when he punched him.

Needless to say, the purple haired male didn't care too much for his counterpart when they did arrive. Instead he left the serial whinger to complain to the staff as he went off to his sister's room.

It always pained him to see Gumina's comatose body and he internally cursed himself for not being able to do anything to prevent this from happening. He gently held one of her hands as he closed his eyes. "I know I've been visiting a lot as of recent but a lot of things have happened, so please forgive me. It won't be much longer now, soon I'll fulfil my promise."

Just as he was about to speak again, the sound of his phone echoed throughout the silent room, making him crack one of his eyes open to spy the caller ID. Sighing, he stood up "I'm sorry our time has to be cut short. Don't worry I'll be back here as soon as I can."

* * *

 **(Link VRAINS)**

"I hope you enjoyed that show folks! Till next time, bye bye!" Blue Angel signed off to the sound of her adoring fans, it had been yet another day of tiring duels with whomever decided to show their face. But as long as she could at least make one person's dreams come true, then it would be worth it.

However, it had taken her a mammoth effort to even convince her brother that she should go into Vrains. Despite her new understanding of the situation and a general softening of the whole over protective brother complex. Akira was still unwilling to shift until they decided upon compromising, allowing Aoi to maintain her idol status so long as she would relay whenever she'd enter the system.

Sighing, she descended to the ground and dematerialized her D-board before then leaning back on one of the nearby by buildings to catch her breath.

It was then that the sound of footsteps reverberated around the area. Looking around for the origin point, she saw a solitary male figure silently approaching.

Her eyes widened as the figure strode ever closer, in a desperate attempt to escape she bolted off in the other direction, not looking back.

In response the figure raised one of his hands that had gained a blue glow to it. With a flick of his wrist the ground in front of Blue Angel rose and blocked the dueling idol's path. Desperate, Blue Angel tried to run in other directions but every time, the figure cut the path off until they were face to face.

"Don't worry, I'm merely a seraph that embraces everything with his wings, even false and deceitful people." The figure's voice was suave and measured, the kind that would usually sooth any woes but in this case it did the exact opposite, only heightening Blue Angel's fear causing her words to die in her throat.

With another flick of his wrist, now shining yellow, the figure and Blue Angel vanished from the scene.

Outside of the network, everything was passing by normally. Some people talking whilst others stayed glued to the screen that was still showing repeats of the most recent duels.

That was until the feed flickered and became static, causing everyone to become curious as to why this was the case. To their fortune the feed came back nearly instantaneously, however, it wasn't _quite_ what they had expected.

To the shock of everyone, including Yusaku, Ai and Shoichi. The figure who had appeared before Blue Angel was now staring down the screen. He was dressed in a long silver jacket that had a dark grey collar and black trims towards the end of it along with silver gloves on his hands. Underneath he was wearing a black and blue shirt with golden buttons. He was also wearing black trousers and had on silver boots. His hair was green and slicked back with one strand falling down between his grey eyes. One of the most noticeable features of his attire was the deep blue scarf that was draped across his shoulders, almost like a cape. The other noticeable feature was the white mask the figure was carelessly holding with two fingers. Etched onto it was a rather unsettling smile that was a deep crimson red.

"You needn't be alarmed." The figure spoke, kicking everyone out of their stupors "My name is Seraph and I seek an opponent." With his free hand, Seraph directed the rather scared pigeon reporter to change the scene showing Blue Angel ensnared in a multitude of chains against one of the buildings. The sight of this alone was enough to startle the whole crowd that had now gathered.

The screen then cut back to Seraph "She is not hurt, I simply need bait for my opponent to appear. Once they come, she will be free to leave, I'll be waiting." With that he terminated the feed as everyone wore expressions of horror.

'We have to go after him!' Ai shouted, almost jumping out of Yusaku's duel disk.

"Calm down." Yusaku placed his hand on top of the disk, effectively silencing Ai's ramblings so he and Shoichi could formulate a plan. "Shoichi, what do we know about this person?"

Shoichi searched in vain but couldn't come up with anything "Looks like he's either a new member or he's deleting any record of himself, much like we do. He's a total enigma."

Yusaku didn't even respond due to being so deep in thought trying to analyse the situation.

Elsewhere, Colt was perched on a rooftop overlooking the numerous friendly duels going on beneath him.

However, it was very much background noise, as he was busy holding a singular card in his hand. It was his ace. _'I swear on my life, for the ones that kidnapped all of us, the ones who tortured us. I'll make all of you repent.'_

His mind then went back to two people he knew were victims of the project _'That Superbia character is a cut and dry case. It was the heat of the moment, his actions gave him away.'_ But the next person was far more important to him _'Mammon. No matter if we share the same past, my contract to SOL will still state that we are enemies. I intend to follow it to the best of my ability.'_

It was then that a screen showing Akira popped up in front of him. "Nem, where are you right now?!"

Quickly recovering from his moderate scare, Colt spoke back "Aren't you supposed to know where I am at all times, Zaizen?"

Akira however, didn't appear to have any time for this, he sounded slightly desperate too "Just answer the question!"

"Calm, Zaizen. To answer your question, I'm near the centre of the server and before you ask, I'm not doing anything in particular. So, I'll have time to do what you require me to." Colt watched as Akira breathed a sigh of relief.

The former security manager's look then turned deadly serious "Nem, Aoi has been taken hostage."

' _Really?! Why is she always the target?!'_ He thought before looking back at Akira _'Oh… That's right.'_ Colt sighed then nodded "Okay, I'll go find her."

"Thank you, Nem." Akira said, seemingly exhausted and with that the call was disconnected and once more left the SOL hunter to himself. He edged towards the end of the roof, as the datastorm's winds picked up, bringing his D-board with it.

Jumping and landing with a thud, he sped off in search of the target.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Blue Angel questioned whilst struggling to get out of the chains.

Looking down at her, almost as if she were filth, Seraph gave a cold response "I told you, I am a seraph that embraces everything with his wings. Even the disgusting deceitful people who pretend to be somebody they are not. Though believe me when I say that I bear no ill will. I am out here to fulfil an obligation and you were the best way I could gain my target's attention."

Blue Angel laughed bitterly "So, you're just another one of them. Another person using me for their own gain."

Seraph, not being overly concerned by the ramblings of his prisoner, chose to ignore her, focusing in on trying to find his target. That was until Blue Angel uttered "Yet you would appear to be one of the worst. Taking on the name Seraph, you don't deserve a title like that."

That seemed to hit Seraph for six as he glared daggers at her, getting right into her face "Excuse me?" His tone lost the suave nature and gave the impression he was ready to do something _ugly_. "This name was bestowed upon me, I'd rather you _not_ sully the name whilst you share a name you could never even dream of living up to, Aoi Zaizen!"

In response, Blue Angel spat at Seraph's face causing the male to stagger back dropping his mask "You were one of them weren't you? A lonely person who sought to be loved, to be saved and given what you just admitted to, you can't hide that truth from me."

Still in a trance like state of shock, Seraph replied "Insolent wretch…" Although he was still too dazed to speak fully.

It was at this time Colt arrived onto the scene, snapping Seraph out of his daze and regaining his calm demeanour, picking up his mask he faced Colt "Hello there."

Spying the chained up Aoi over Seraph's shoulder, Colt spoke "I take it, that you're the target. I was sent to take down."

"Likewise." Came Seraph's answer.

"Well, let's not waste any time. I'll make you repent for your sins." Colt cracked a smirk behind his mask whilst his opponent placed his own one on. "What's the point in wearing that now if you have already revealed your face?" Colt asked, baffled.

Seraph laughed in reply as his D-board rushed by, his board was the base SOL design that was coloured silver with tints of blue and black, throughout the design. "I believe it was you said we shouldn't waste time." The green haired teen jumped and meet his board as Colt begrudgingly did the same.

" **Speed Duel!"** Both of them shouted simultaneously.

Colt's LP: 4000 Seraph's LP: 4000 Cards x4

 **Turn 1**

"I'll take the first turn." Seraph said, surveying his hand "I summon **Divine Ascendant Kra!** " The monster took on the appearance of an orange skeletal figure that had a glowing blue centre to it. The shoulders were adorned by two skulls whilst a third skull hovered above the body, functioning as the head. Next it had six arms and flowing out of the back were six massive orange wings.

 **Divine Ascendant Kra, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (1600** /500 **)**

"Kra's effect. Once per turn when this card is normal or special summoned, I can add one Ascendant Art spell or trap to my hand." The selected card was added into Seraph's hand as he choose two other cards in his hand "I set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Is that it? I would've thought you'd do much more than that. It's pitiful." Colt said annoyed, which only made Seraph laugh again.

"Have you ever heard of the saying 'Man proposes, God disposes'?" Turing back to see Colt shaking his head was his cue to continue "Basically, it means that one can make plans but it is up to fate to decide the outcome. I do whatever I can to make sure that I have the best chances of success, my setup here is more than enough to beat you into submission."

Seraph's cards x2

 **Turn 2**

"My turn, I draw. To being when I control no monsters on my field I can special summon this card from hand. Come on out Codecracker Vigilante **!** " Codecracker Vigilante cocked and point his gun directly at Kra's head as he materialized.

 **Codecracker Vigilante Level 3** _ ** _,_**_ **Warrior, EARTH, Effect** _ ** _(500/_** 500 **)**_

"Next I summon Codecracker Drone to the field!" The small drone made its way beside its master.

 **Codecracker Drone Level 1, Machine** _ **, EARTH, Effect (0/**_ _200)_

"I activate Drone's effect." The drone shot a beam of code into Seraph's disk "It sends the top three cards of your deck to the graveyard and for each monster sent there by this effect. You lose 500 life points."

The cards sent were two traps and one monster "Would you look at that," The bombay doors on Drone opened as it hovered over Seraph "There was a monster in the load, so you best be prepared because this may hurt." The resulting blast knocked Seraph behind Colt but it didn't faze him in the slightest.

Seraph's LP: **4000 – 3500**

"Now appear the encrypted circuit that lights the way! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition is one Codecracker effect monster with 1000 or less attack points! I set Codecracker Vigilante in the link markers." Vigilante headed towards the bottom of the link square "Circuit combine! Appear, Link 1! Codecracker Receiver!" Colt's link monster appeared beside its master with a grunt.

 **Codecracker Receiver Link 1, Warrior, EARTH, Effect** **(** **1000** ) **Link Markers: Down**

"Receiver's effect! I can select one level 4 or lower monster from my deck and summon it to a zone this card is linked to. Codecracker Signal Operator joins the fray!" Having combined the pieces he needed, Colt smirked behind his mask.

 **Codecracker Signal Operator** **,** **level 4, Warrior, EARTH (** **1600** **/** 400 **)**

"However, they won't be staying for long!" In response Seraph laughed but Colt ignored him and continued on "Appear for the second time _,_ the encrypted circuit that lights the way! The summoning conditions are two or more Codecracker effect monsters! I set Signal Operator, Receiver and Vigilante in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link 3! Essence of Wrath – Codecracker Retributioner!"

Emerging out of the Link gate, Retributioner spun the barrel of one of his revolvers before firing a shot into the air with a grin on his face.

 **Essence of Wrath - Codecracker Retributioner, Link 3, Warrior, DARK** ( **2600** ) **Link Markers: Bottom, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.**

"My, you've certainly gone all guns blazing." Seraph said, the eerie passiveness sitting uncomfortably with Colt "I'm honoured that you consider me to be worthy enough of an adversary that you see fit to use your ace monster right away."

"Don't flatter yourself." Colt scoffed distastefully "You're merely a pest that I need to get rid of to fulfil my contract."

Once more, Seraph laughed sounding remarkably like Zitor "Oh? Is that so? Here I thought that you were here to rescue Blue Angel or that you deemed me a good opponent." He said acting like he'd just been stabbed in the heart.

There was a pause before Colt spoke again "It's my intention to end this as soon as possible so I can get back to what I actually want to do. Before I continue, I set one card face down. Now! Battle! Retributioner attacks Divine Ascendant Kra! Wrath shot!" In a flash, two crimson bullets were shot, one heading straight into Kra's head, the other was on a trajectory to where the heart was meant to be.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I as a seraph embrace everything in my wings as I play the role of saviour. I activate the trap **Ascendant Art – Cantarella!** " The card art depicted another bone like angel that was bowing down to a shadowy figure on a shining throne, said figure was handing the angel a bishop chess piece.

"This card prevents my monster's destruction and negates any damage." Kra turned around and used two of its arms to catch the bullets in mid-air "But that's not all, until the end of your next turn, your monster shall lose attack points equal to my monster's attack!" Kra then threw the bullets back at the shooter, both of them lodging deep into Retributioner's body.

Retributioner's ATK: **2600 – 1000**

Colt's cards x2

"Do whatever you want. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable." Colt said trying his best to hide his irritation. "I'll win in the end and I will not rest until those who have wronged us over the past ten years have been brought to their knees!"

Not fazed whatsoever, Seraph responded instantaneously "Ah, you sound just like Playmaker. Tell me, who is your grudge against?"

"I seek to crush the people who tortured us during those horrific months. The ones who used as chess pieces in a sadistic game! The bastards behind the Inferno project!" Colt yelled practically at the top of his lungs, shattering any attempt at indifference he was making.

"My, what a pitiful lost soul you must be." Seraph mocked callously and with absolutely no compassion whatsoever.

Before Colt could even open his mouth to retaliate, Seraph interjected again "It pains me to see people so caught up in the past. One can truly never move forward if their feet are still shackled to the past. It's my duty to see that those chains are shattered."

"My past isn't like most others. All of us underwent horrific torture during the time we were locked up. Simply forgetting that ever happened is not something that is possible. I still bear scars from that time." Colt said solemnly, like Sateriasis, Colt had come out heavily scarred the only difference being his never faded, be it mental or physical.

Another laugh pierced through the silence that had settled, looking back Colt could see Seraph had removed his mask, showing off the predatory grin etched on his face "So that's all you truly are. A tortured child who refuses to move on. I was once like you, until the day my saviour came to my aid." He finished by placing the mask back on.

 **Turn 3**

"And now I'll show how to shatter the past! I draw! I activate the effect of Ascendant Art – Cantarella from my graveyard. I can banish this card from my graveyard to add one more Ascendant Art spell or trap to my hand." The selected made its way into Seraph's hand as he continued "I now summon **Divine Ascendant Ciel!** "

Ciel, like Kra before it was a skeletal bony angel. Except this time round it was an icy blue colour and had a lifeless look in its eyes. Unlike Kra, Ciel only had two arms but they were of considerable length. On its shoulders were two heads, one of a falcon and one of an eagle. And finally, it had two large black wings.

 **Divine Ascendant Ciel, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (1800** /900)

"Now I activate the spell **Ascendant Art – Absolution**!" This card depicted Kra, Ciel and two other skeletal angels being faced down by a shadowy finger that was handing each one of them a knight chess piece. "This card allows my monsters to gain 500 attack points for each Divine Ascendant on my field. So that means both of them will be gaining 1000 points!"

Kra's ATK: **1600 – 2600**

Ciel's ATK: **1800 – 2800**

"The unfortunate repercussion of this card is that my monsters will be destroyed at the end of this turn and I take damage equal to half their original attack points."

' _So that's his plan, weaken his opponent's monsters before buffing his own ones to beat his target in an OTK like style. Quite prophetic.'_ Colt thought, formulating his own plan for victory.

"I activate Ciel's effect!" Seraph said bring Colt out of his thoughts "Once per turn, I can add one card in my banish zone to my hand. I add my Ascendant Art – Cantarella back to my hand. I think I'll set one card facedown."

Colt said nothing, instead logging the information into his plan. "Battle! Divine Ascendant Kra attacks your Retributioner! Tear him to shreds!" Kra disappeared in a flash of blinding light before reappearing behind Retributioner. In response, the assassin turned on a dime and pulled out a knife but it was no use as the angel ripped him apart savagely.

Colt's LP: **4000 – 2400**

"Retributioner's effect! When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, the attacking monster is also destroyed and you take damage equal to its current attack points!"

The graveyard portal opened up, sticking out an arm Retributioner fired three shots at Kra, one piercing the angel's body whilst the other two struck Seraph in his shoulders but the green haired male simply brushed it off as if it were nothing.

Seraph's LP: **3500 - 900**

"Ah, you're a fighter to the bitter end." Seraph mocked bring Colt to the end of his tether, how was it possible to be so insufferable in so few words? "It was interesting while it lasted but it ends here with Ciel's attack!"

With no monster in the way, Ciel charged forward but before the attack could land, Colt sprang into action "I activate my trap **Encryption Barrier**!" The card showed a scene of Retributioner standing behind a wall of code whilst pointing one of his revolvers at the monster attempting to breakthrough "When I'm attacked directly, I can send one monster from my hand to the graveyard and lower the damage by that amount. I send Codecracker Researcher to the graveyard!" Said monster appeared just in time to shield Colt from the majority of the blast.

Colt's LP: **2400 – 100**

As a result of the attack, Seraph streaked ahead of Colt with a smug grin "You're a persistent bastard as well."

This time it was Colt who laughed "I wouldn't be one to talk. You're about to lose yourself. At the end of this turn, the effect of your spell will finish you off."

"Are you sure about that?" Seraph shot back with an icy tone "It's not unusual for people to preform desperate moves to defend themselves from defeat. Thus rendering this strategy detrimental to my situation. So I set up a contingency plan, that's what it means to do everything humanly possible to win. I activate the quick play spell **Ascendant Art – Combustion**!" The art gave the scene of a massive explosion consuming the majority of the picture while the angels fled the area "This card destroys all Divine Ascendants on my field and for every one destroyed I get to draw a card."

Ciel dissolved into blue pixels as Seraph drew, saving him from the adverse effects of his previous spell "It would seem that I'm not in as much danger as you believed me to be. You must have a better strategy than that to beat me and save Blue Angel."

Seraph's cards x2

Watching on outside of Vrains, Yusaku, Shoichi and Ai were still debating whether or not they should intervene to save Blue Angel. 'You really can be so cold at times, Yusaku. Are you sure you're not an Ai?' Ai moaned.

"Keep quiet or I'll delete your programing." Yusaku scolded, choosing to return to ignoring the Ignis while the Ai in question silently cried for the neglect he was receiving.

"That Seraph really is a crafty individual. Making you believe he'll make one move to then do the opposite. It wouldn't be a stretch to say this all a setup to trap you." Shoichi said facing Yusaku.

Silently, Yusaku picked up his duel disk as made his way into the access chamber "Nevertheless, there are three reasons why we can't just sit by. 1: We can learn more about both of these characters if we meet them face to face and we can confirm our suspicions on who one of them may be. 2: I can't allow Blue Angel to be used as a pawn yet again and 3: There is a chance that Hanoi could use this situation to their advantage." Shoichi replied with a silent nod before Yusaku logged in.

Still struggling hard to escape the chains, Blue Angel's face lit up upon the sight of Playmaker before her. "I guess I'm going to have to owe you again." She said sardonically.

"Don't get the wrong idea." Was all Playmaker said as he quietly told Shoichi to see if he could find a way to get rid of the chains.

Back at Colt and Seraph's duel, the latter's hand suddenly began to glow red dragging his attention down to it. "Well, well. It would seem like we have an intruder…" He said under his breath.

 **Turn 4**

' _Damnit! I'm hanging by a thread! I can't lose now, they'll come for me again if I lose and I won't allow that!'_ Colt thought in sheer desperation as his mind flashed back to the sight of two men entering his chamber "My turn! I draw! I activate my skill **Flash Repentance**!"

"Skill, huh? It's not as if it's going to matter." To Colt if there was an award for most insufferable asshole, this guy would be the record title holder.

"When my life points are lower than my opponent's, I can summon one Link monster from my graveyard at the cost of halving my life points. Retributioner return to field and bring him to his knees!" Retributioner re-emerged having completely ditched his unassuming appearance, showing all the weapons he hid underneath. But still the monster wielded his revolvers as his primary weapon.

Colt's LP: **400 – 200**

"I activate Retributioner's first effect! By sending one card from hand to the graveyard I can summon one monster from my graveyard but its effects are negated and it can't attack. I summon Codecracker Vigilante to the field!" Vigilante reappeared next to Retributioner although he was visibly weakened "Now it is time for the second effect. Twice per turn, by destroying a card this monster is linked to. I can deal you 500 points of damage."

Vigilante evaporated nearly as quickly as he had appeared, turning into Retributioner's ammunition as the monster in question grinned before loosing his shot at Seraph.

Seraph's LP: **900 – 400**

"Before you get any ideas, I'm not done just yet! I activate **Cracking Decryption**! For every Codecracker I control I now get to destroy one card you control."

' _Since he has no monster that face down card is either to destroy my monster or severely weaken it so he can survive to the next turn. I can only be sure of one trap that was in his hand. Cantarella.'_ Colt thought as he tried to figure out the identity of the card in his mind.

"I'll be ridding the field of your face down if you wouldn't mind." Said card soon underwent numerous glitches and vanished from play.

But none of that mattered to Seraph "Clever move, not only dealing me damage but also getting of what you assumed to be my last line of defence and your victory."

For a moment Colt felt the corner of his lips tug up, that was however was ruined "However, it would be foolish of you to assume that I have only one way to defend myself. You only simply assumed that would be the case. Did it ever occur to you that maybe it was there for another reason?"

With that, the satisfaction Colt had experienced had been smashed into a million shards "I activate the effect of **Ascendant Art –** **Seppuku!** " This card had the shadowy figure in more detail. Although still cloaked in the darkness, the six massive wings with glowing red eyes could be seen and the regal nature of the angel could not be in denial. In its hand was the rook chess piece. "This card activates when destroyed by card effect. During this turn if I were to take any kind of damage, you too would lose the same amount!"

' _Damn him! Damn him! This bastard won't get away with this. I'll beat him if it's the last thing I do. Anything else is a failure.'_ Colt clutched his head, falling to one knee.

"Thinking that you could understand my ways, you got careless and let down your guard." Just as he was about to continue, the red glow returned in full force _'Someone is starting to really get on my nerves now.'_

Elsewhere, the chains around Blue Angel were still bound tightly and showed no signs of budging.

'AHHH! Why is this taking so long?!' Ai vented only to be met with a glare from Playmaker, immediately silencing him.

"Shoichi, what's the issue here?" Playmaker said under his breath.

Still working through the coding it was then that the realisation struck Shoichi to the true nature of the program "Yusaku, this is a SOL technologies program."

"What?!" Truth be told, that wasn't something Playmaker was expecting to be the case _'That can only mean Seraph too is working for SOL but why would he kidnap Blue Angel?'_

"I'll try to see if I can get rid of the program but I can make no guarantees that I'd be able to." In response Playmaker nodded looking solemnly at Blue Angel.

He then looked at the Ignis in his duel disk "Ai, is it possible for you to eat this program?"

'Huh?' Ai exclaimed briefly shocked before thinking it over 'Well… I won't know unless I try!' The Ignis then sprouted out the disk into his monster form and attempted to eat the chain program, notwithstanding the absolute terrified look Blue Angel had on her face.

However, when Ai made attempted to make contact with the program he was immediately repulsed and retreated back into Playmaker's disk 'It's no use Playmaker, that program is abhorrent and it's like it is designed to repulse any intervention.'

Tearing his eyes away from his hand, Seraph took one look at the quivering wreck Colt had become "You're pathetic really. But I pride myself as a Seraph who's able to stop anyone's tears."

"Y-your t-turn…" Colt said, his voice cracking all the while as he tried to force the unwanted memories out of his mind.

Colt's cards x2

 **Turn 5**

"I draw. I activate the effect of Ciel in my graveyard by banishing this card. I can add one more Divine Ascendant from my deck to my hand. Now I activate my own skill **Ascendant Will**!" Seraph's hand began to glow white "When my life points are below 1000 I can summon two Divine Ascendant monsters from my deck, at the cost of dropping their attack to 0 and negating their effects. I summon **Divine Ascendant Kuro** and **Rota!** "

Rota was a green skeletal angel with white wings that was remarkably unassuming in comparison to the other monsters that came before it.

In stark contrast, Kuro was a huge black shadow like angel that had streaks of purple in its body as well. Embedded within its shoulders were two eyes with purple irises. The wings were also a dark light consuming black.

 **Divine Ascendant Rota, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (0/** 500 **)**

 **Divine Ascendant Kuro, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (0** /1200 **)**

"Kra's effect now activates from my graveyard. When a monster is special summoned to my field, I can summon this monster from my graveyard at the cost of also reducing its attack to 0 and negating its effects." Kra descend to the field and took position next to the other two angels.

"Descend now! The holy circuit of angels!" Seraph declared as the Link gate appeared beneath him "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two plus Divine Ascendant effect monsters! I set Divine Ascendant Rota, Kuro and Kra in the Link markers!" All three monsters became yellow beams of light as they shot down to the top, bottom and bottom left arrows "Circuit combine! Link 3! **Divine Ascendant Shi!** "

Breaking out of the Link gate, revealed the new monster to be the shadowy figure ever present in Seraph's previous spell and trap cards. This skeletal angel was the largest by far, its body was grey with flashes of red on it. On its shoulders were two grey skulls with glowing red eyes. It had four long lanky arms and another skull floating above functioning as the head. Its six wings were revealed to be of a purplish colour scheme and the biggest two of the set had a set of eyes implanted in them. Also on the back were a set of bone like spikes.

 **Divine Ascendant Shi, Link 3, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (2600) Link Markers: Top, Bottom and Bottom Left**

"Shi's effect. By banishing one Divine Ascendant from my graveyard, I can summon one Ascendant token to a zone this card is linked to. This card then gains 500 attack points for each card linked to it. I banish Kra from my graveyard." The token that materialized was a smaller version of Shi although its wings were folded in.

Shi's ATK: **2600 – 3100**

Taking a look back, Seraph observed Colt fighting his way back to his feet "I'm glad to see you've returned back in time for me to put a stop to your tears."

"I w-won't lose to the likes of y-you!" Colt was barely able to etch that out in between haggard breaths.

Seraph threw out an arm "I'll let you continue to believe that. My saviour once told me that the most important aspect of a human was their will to survive until the bitter end. It really is such a shame this will have to end. Battle! Divine Ascendant Shi vanquish Retributioner!" Shi vanished almost instantaneously vanished from Seraph's field but then it soon reappeared above the two duelists. Its wings were soon charged with energy which was then blasted at Colt.

"I told you…" Colt said growling "I'd never lose to the likes of you! I activate the effect of Codecracker Battle Operator. By sending this card from my hand to the graveyard I take no damage!" A barrier appeared just in time to repulse Shi's attack as said monster returned to their master's field.

"It's your turn then. Please don't waste your last chance." Seraph said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "At the end of the turn when Shi's effect is activated, any monster that didn't declare an attack on my field is destroyed." The token disintegrated as Shi's attack power weakened.

Shi's ATK: **3100 – 2600**

Seraph's cards x4

 **Turn 6**

' _This is it. He's got no face down cards and without that he can't defend himself'_ Colt thought before stating his turn "I draw." His eyes lit up as he saw the card he drew "First I activate Retributioner's effect sending one card from my hand to summon Battle Operator from my hand."

"So that's your plan. To defeat me by using a card effect? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't insulted right now." Seraph said in pretend sadness before his tone turned icy "However, that isn't going to be the case because Shi is unaffected by card effects."

Colt smirked "That's fine by me. I wasn't planning on beating you that way, I've got something else planned."

For the first time in a while Seraph was at a loss for words while Colt continued "I activate the Spell **Dual Break**!" This card showed Retributioner and another monster pointing their weapons at the sight of a cowering monster "The effect of this card allows one monster on my field to gain attack points equal to the total amount of link markers on the field. If you recall Retributioner has three whilst your monster also has three. In layman's terms that's 600 points."

A blue aura surrounded Retributioner significantly strengthening the monster.

Retributioner's ATK: **2600 – 3200**

"Battle! Retributioner! Attack Divine Ascendant Shi! Wrath shot!" Retributioner quickly fired three shots with an almost sadistic grin on his face.

Seraph only removed his mask and smiled as the first two shots laded and tore a hole through the eyes on Shi's wings the angel groaned in pain before it was destroyed in an explosion. Out of the blast came the final bullet that struck Seraph in the back, causing him to double over in pain.

Seraph's LP: **400 – 0**

Colt: **Win!**

"You did well, Colt. I commend you for beating me." Seraph said returning to his feet "Although, you're going to have to be fast to get to Blue Angel in time." The red glow on his hand then suddenly evaporated. "Good luck." With that the enigma that was Seraph disconnected from Vrains.

It was just then that Colt's eyes widened _'Shit I forgot!'_ He thought as he sped off in her direction.

Safe to say, after spending the past few minutes waiting to see if either Shoichi or Ai could crack the program, Playmaker was shocked to see the program disappear causing Blue Angel to start falling to the ground.

For Blue Angel, it was a moment of realisation startling her too much for her to use her whip, she closed her eyes as the thoughts of everyone dear to her rushed through her head.

But it was just then a hand grabbed her and hoisted her up as the person landed on the same rooftop Playmaker was on. "Next time be more careful who you associate with." Colt said unimpressed but people who knew him well enough could hear a tint of happiness in his voice.

At a loss for words but thankful nonetheless also she could do was smile at both Colt and Playmaker before disconnecting too.

'Ah! It's him! He's the one Mammon destroyed in that duel! He works for SOL!' The Ignis said much to the ire of both humans in the system.

"Five seconds in and I already hate you." Colt said before removing his mask. "You should thank me as it looks like you weren't going to do anything other than sit and watch."

"Who are you?" Playmaker said, choosing to ignore both the Ai and the hunter.

"As your Ai put it so bluntly, I'm a bounty hunter working for SOL technologies. My name is Colt." Colt said, levelling Playmaker with a piercing glare. "We'll be meeting again very soon, so I would save any questions you have. Goodbye." With that, Colt also left the Vrains network.

'How rude! Quitting on us like that!'

"You were the one you insulted him." Playmaker stated bluntly in response effectively silencing the Ignis as they too left the system.

* * *

 **(Real world)**

"I wouldn't be too concerned, Sir." That voice belonged to a 16 year old male. He stood at roughly 5'10. His hair was coloured an icy blue, it was spiked and swept off to the left with white highlights at the end. His eyes were a dull grey colour. His attire consisted of an open snow white jacket that showed off the black shirt he had on underneath. He also wore grey trousers buckled by a silver belt and he also had white trainers on. Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the boy was the fact he was wearing a well-worn blue scarf around his neck.

Currently the male was twirling a king chess piece in his hands as he heard the voice on the other end of his phone sigh "You could've won that easily yet you didn't. Don't even think about failing again, Haizaki."

In response, Haizaki placed the king down on his board "Wouldn't dream of it, Sir."

"Good." Was all that was said before the call was disconnected.

Elsewhere, Yusaku had just stepped out of the access chamber and immediately went back to working with Shoichi.

"I still don't understand how he got his hand on a SOL program…" Shoichi said before he had an epiphany of sorts "Unless he was given it by someone at the company."

'Who would we know that would be the kind of person to that? Hmm…' Ai said, still trying to figure it out whilst Shoichi and Yusaku already had a suspected in mind.

"The question now is why he do something like this?"

* * *

 **A/N: So that was Chapter eight and it is likely to be the last for a while as I'm going to step away from writing for a bit to clear my head. But I'll certainly come back to this story.**

 **Aside from that, I have nothing really special to say. Only the QOTC: What do you think of Seraph's introduction and how he's portrayed?**

 **I'll see you next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: The Infernal Strings of Fate**

 **(Hanoi)**

"It looks like SOL is finally starting fall apart under its own weight, Master Revolver." Spectre said matter-of-factly as he stood by Revolver re-watching Seraph's duel with Colt "If they can't even trust each other then there is no way for them to stop us in our mission."

"Indeed." Revolver concurred, crossing his arms and staring intently at the screen "But the question remains of just who this Seraph character truly is and the one who sent for him in the first place. What information do you have on him at the moment?"

"Unfortunately, I couldn't gather much information on him. Much like Playmaker all of his records have been deleted from the second he outs of the system. However, from what data I got my hands on I was able to deduct that he is the same age as Mammon and Playmaker and is also a student at Den Academy." Spectre reported.

Revolver then clutched his right arm tightly as images of the two people Spectre mentioned infiltrated his mind "What of his contractor?" He asked quickly to try and dispel those thoughts.

Spectre's lips quirked up into a smirk "Now that's where it gets interesting. Given the program Seraph used on Blue Angel and his ability to manipulate the network at will, the contractor's a high ranking official at SOL. But the most interesting part about that is how said contractor is referred to. He's referred to as the Master of the Hellish Yard."

"Master of the Hellish Yard?" Revolver muttered, processing the information when something struck him causing him to mimic Spectre's smirk "Spectre, make sure that everything is ready for Project Another and call Mammon here, I have something to discuss with him."

"As you wish, Master Revolver." Spectre said with a bow before dissolving into cerulean pixels, leaving Revolver by himself.

' _The Master of the Hellish Yard and his guardian angel, Seraph. I can't let them interfere with Father's plan. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure we will be the victors in this battle!'_ Revolver declared mentally awaiting Sateriasis arrival.

* * *

 **(Next Day)**

Aoi was quite confused as to what she was doing here. No, scratch that. She was very confused. To be honest, he kinda lost her train of thought when she walked past the room to begin with.

Maybe it was the scene of a lone blue haired standing the music suite holding a snow white violin that had intricate purple and black carvings on either end. Or maybe it was the soft voice coming out of said boy that entranced her.

Either way, right now she was standing in the doorway, just within ear shot of the song. " _There was an angel who lost both her wings, for a black vow she made she had given her everything_. _Even the past that she had loved with all her heart, she had taken into her hands and torn it all apart._ "

The lyrics tugged at Aoi's heartstrings, it also didn't help that the teen's general bearing and tone made it seem like he was putting everything into this performance. _'It's a shame no else can hear it.'_ Aoi thought solemnly.

" _Knowing that there's no way for me to go back, I've relinquished the bonds that connected me to my past. All I regret is having regretted at all, let me drown in your presence as I take the final fall. Even if exiled from heaven's door, she will stay fateful to the vow that she once swore, till the sins will regain the purity they once had before!"_ The music reached a crescendo at the end and then gently faded over time until the only thing that could be heard was the teen's meek breathing.

"That was beautiful…" The words slipped out of Aoi's mouth before she could even think, she quickly gasped and covered her mouth as the teen turned around, his dull grey eyes locking with her own.

"Ah, hello there." Came the soft reply alongside a half smile before he turned his attention back to the violin that lay at his side "I'm guessing you heard me. I'm Haizaki Shirogane, pleasure to make your acquaintance." Haizaki was wearing the usual school uniform with the major difference being that in place of the tie was his blue scarf draped over his shoulders much like his Vrains avatar. Over the top of said scarf was what appeared to be a small silver vial.

"Aoi Zaizen, are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around before." Aoi said causing Haizaki to smirk in reply.

"Yeah, I transferred here about a week or so ago." He said before he took on a more somber look and tone "To be honest, I'm surprised you noticed me at first glance. Very few people would even take a cursory glance in my direction. I'm what you call a phantom."

"I see." Aoi muttered, even though she'd just met him Haizaki seemed to be a lot like Sateriasis to her. But instead of that intense dark aura that clung like glue to the long haired male, Haizaki had very little aura if any at all yet from what she could gather it seemed as if he was use to people ignoring his being which Aoi couldn't help but sympathise with him about.

"I hope you don't mind." Haizaki said out of the blue, his eyes once more drifting to the violin "But I'm not quite finished with my practice."

"Oh…Okay. I understand." Aoi replied already starting to leave the room until Haizaki spontaneously called out to her.

"Wait. Do you want to listen?" His voice replicating his usual suave calming tone.

Aoi seemed conflicted for the moment, looking out of the doorway before switching her to Haizaki who had turned his back at this point "Yeah, I think I will, Shirogane." She said, not noticing the now predatory glint in the teen's soulless eyes.

* * *

 **(Later)(SOL Technologies)**

"Unbelievable…" Zitor groaned pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath as Kitamura who looked as if he was about to shit himself cowered in terror of punishment the head of development could bestow upon him.

"I-I c-can explain!" Kitamura yelled then yelped when he was met with Zitor's soul piercing stare.

"Spill it then." Zitor commanded in his most authoritative voice which he usually only used when talking with the higher ups.

Kitamura grimaced "It was Hanoi…" He squeaked out, twiddling his thumbs, desperately trying to avoid any eye contact "More specifically it was two of them… I can't hardly even believe it myself! All my hard work! My promotion!"

It was then that Zitor's eerie laugh penetrated the air, the grin he flashed showing just how amused with the situation he really was. "You sycophantic people make me laugh. All talk and no bite, a dog that's forsaken its fangs. Do you know why you even still have a job here?" He said raising an eyebrow at Kitamura, who looked like he might melt under the pressure "It's because you're a useless scoundrel who's easy to manipulate."

Before Kitamura could even open his mouth to retaliate, Zitor continued his tirade "An entire army of 100% Ai duelists, totalling in the hundreds, wiped out by two people. If I were you I'd be very worried about your job security and your future." His look then turned deadly and his eyes were narrowed "Get out of my sight."

"No! Wait please!" Kitamura yelped with his voice almost at a quiver "I'll do anything!"

Behind the hand covering his mouth, Zitor's grin stretched into one of pure malicious intent.

 **(Den City plaza)**

"Hey, Sat. Have you see this?" Allen said pulling up a string of comments on the Link VRAINS discussion board flacking Kitamura for his spectacular failure. Turns out that fulfilling your own ego about how great you were first, wasn't exactly the greatest move to preserve your legacy when the inevitable failure was just around the corner.

"It serves him right. If I was in charge his head would've been mounted on a pike." Sateriasis concurred, taking a sip from his drink. Both of them were currently sat at the tables set up outside Café Nagi, Allen had been busy most of the time stuffing his face whilst Sateriasis sat there mulling over what Revolver had told him the day prior. "But I can assume your dad has already put him through hell and back?"

It was phrased more as a rhetorical question but that didn't stop Allen from inflating his own self pride "Yeah! I doubt that he'll even be alive after that meeting!"

Sateriasis sighed as he bit down on the straw lodged in his mouth _'Honestly, I was hoping he would stay on longer. We could use someone so incompetent that even basic management skills are badly lacking making attacks easier. But, alas, it was not to be.'_

"I wouldn't be surprised if Dad did take over the post." Allen said, half prideful but the way his eyes flickered suggested to Sateriasis that something wasn't sitting right with his counterpart "He's always been a hard-line perfectionist, I doubt that he'll allow this to be swept under the rug. I've also heard him complain about 'undesirables' in the security department. This seems like his moment."

Once more there was a flash of Allen's eyes and the slight tightening of his hand around his drink didn't go unnoticed _'He must still be angry at Allen for that whole thing with Colt.'_ Sateriasis look another look at the now sullen Allen and swiftly decided to change the subject "What do you think of what happened in VRAINS yesterday?"

Allen's eyes lit up and he appeared to have forgotten his own troubles for the moment "Of course I did. It's a bit hard when the highest ranked charisma duelist is kidnapped and held hostage in front of everyone. And by some enigma of the system no less!"

"I wonder if his cards are valuable." Sateriasis said idly, his mind already off in his own avaricious desires.

"Jesus Christ, you're petty." Allen whined, kicking Sateriasis under the table to snap him out of his reverie. However, all that earned him was a swift accurate strike to the groin area as the attacker had a glare so intense that it could burn holes through his head.

"I highly suggest you don't do that again. We don't want a repeat of the previous incident." Sateriasis' disdain was evident and Allen started to subconsciously rub his black eye. "Anyway, that Seraph seems like quite the interesting case. I can at least commend him on using Blue Angel as a target though." There was a somewhat predatory gleam in the purple haired teen's eyes.

"Honestly, I don't get why you hate her so much."

Sateriasis began to reply but was cut-off by the sound of his phone, at the sight of the caller ID he immediately left the chair and walked off into the distance leaving Allen in the dust fuming "Oi! You can't just quit on me like that!" Then he too ran off in pursuit.

Meanwhile, having sat silently in the background observing the conversation, Yusaku and Shoichi started to converse themselves. "So that's him. Sateriasis Marlon, son of the man who hid the truth of the lost incident and prevented justice from being served." It took all of Shoichi's willpower not to cause a big scene, instead resorting to pounding the inside of the van every now and then.

"His friend mentioned about his father working at SOL…" Yusaku said as Ai jumped in to finish for him 'And he does look oddly familiar… Got it! He's son of that Lucifinia creep!'

Yusaku and Shoichi only looked at each other in a kind of telepathic conversation as they stared off into the distance where Sateriasis and Allen had started off.

* * *

 **(Later)(Hanoi)**

"Well done, Baira." Faust said as Baira teleported in "Now SOL Technologies will remain quiet for a while." This was in reference to the two of them destroying the 100% Ai army that Kitamura had created, leading to his lambasting online due the fact he'd ran his mouth about how they would crush the Knights.

However, Baira didn't look too happy "Are you fine with this? If Dr Kogami's plan is implemented, it'll be the biggest cyber-crime in history. That means Revolver, as leader of the Knights of Hanoi will commit a historic crime. Sateriasis will have assisted in it too. You're fine with that?" She seemed particularly impassioned at the end.

When Faust didn't respond, Baira continued on "Because you think of Revolver as a younger brother and you know how Sateriasis feels about the two of us, remember the state he was in. As the mastermind behind the Anothers, I'd be lying as I didn't feel guilt. But the guilt shackled upon both of them will be one hundred times greater!"

Faust finally responded "To stop Dr Kogami's plan before it is implemented, we must defeat Playmaker, acquire the Ignis and find the cyberse world first. That's why we need Anothers as a way to capture Playmaker. Don't blame yourself too much."

"Okay. Thank you, Faust." Baira gained a slightly happier expression.

"If Playmaker is searching for the removal program, he may eventually come for you."

"That'll be convenient. I'll finish him there. I will acquire the Ignis!"

Elsewhere in another section of the base, Revolver and Mammon were conversing as well with Spectre observing silently in the background. The leader standing slightly in front of the hunter who hung back.

"There is someone who I would like you to gather info on." At this Mammon's ears perked up although he could probably guess who it was going to be.

"Very well, who is it?" Mammon asked with a knowing look, simply waiting for the conformation.

Revolver smirked at the hunter's attitude "The individual know as Seraph. He and his contractor are all but guaranteed to interfere with our plans, he needs to be neutralised before he makes his next move."

Mammon bowed "Certainly. I'll have him dealt with." He then walked off dissolving into cerulean pixels with each step.

Once Mammon had left, Spectre stepped forward "Master Revolver." He began "I see that you made no mention of the data we already had on Seraph to Mammon, especially the data about his contractor. Why is that?"

"Some things are best left unsaid, Spectre. I'll leave it to him to find out."

 **(Link VRAINS)**

"Haizaki." The same voice that gave him his purpose filled Seraph's ears, making him smirk. Currently the green haired male was standing by himself in one of the dark alleyways inhabiting the outskirts of the server "Hanoi are making their move, they've already begun Project Another and now the lieutenants are making themselves known. I have half a mind to crush them myself but I can't leave my post just yet. In the meantime, you have my authority to take any methods necessary to eliminate them."

"Yes, Sir." Seraph replied dutifully as he fiddle with his mask.

'Good but let me make this clear. You are not to fail me again. Understand?' It was the creeping sense of ire in his contractor's voice that made Seraph's grin go crooked, he couldn't help but take pleasure in the annoyance and misfortunes in others, even if this was his contractor.

"Absolutely, you needn't have any concern." The connection was shut off shortly afterwards leaving Seraph by himself, he then leaned on the nearby wall deep in thought _'Hanoi, huh?'_ He then broke into a near maniacal laugh _'It'll take a thousand of those pathetic souls to even scratch me and another thousand to even lick the boots that will crush them!'_ His hand began to glow yellow and with a swift flick he had vanished from the scene.

Meanwhile in another area of VRAINS, there was an infestation of lower ranked knights, they were swarming over a group of individuals. Throwing cards at them to prevent their escape and laughing manically at their targets' misfortunes.

Observing them from a rooftop, were Revolver who stood closer to the edge and Mammon who was slightly behind him. "Over a thousand people have joined the Knights of Hanoi, but they're mostly hoodlums."

"I'm not sure what you expect." Mammon answered, despite the fact it was Revolver's soliloquy "There will always be people out there, who are simply life's rebels. Only joining groups like this for the sake of being against the system or for their own self gain. It's disgusting to see." Mammon didn't quite grasp the irony of his last statement.

Then, there was the sound of more footsteps. Ones belonging to Faust and Baira "They tarnish the Knights of Hanoi reputation." Faust said as Revolver walked towards them, Mammon stayed in the background "Now is the time to fulfil Dr Kogami's wishes."

"Our mission is to kill the Ignis." Baira said.

"Dr Genome is making his move." Faust started.

"We've given him the data gale." Baira finished for him.

"Very well." Revolver replied

The time passed on and the attacks became more and more random "Hack worm attacks you directly!" Somehow even the weakest monster in Hanoi's arsenal was running absolutely rampant, turning anyone and everyone in Anothers.

Then came the moment everyone was waiting for, Playmaker had arrived to the uproar of nearly everyone watching. For the three knights and Mammon on the rooftop however, it was an open and shut case. "That isn't Playmaker." Mammon stated "I can't tell who exactly it is but that is really shoddy code."

The imposter didn't do themselves any favours with how they spoke "You're parasites infecting Link VRAINS! Any one of you can challenge me! Bring it on!"

But to the regular Knights, they couldn't tell the difference "You fool!" One in a green mask taunted "We got you to show up!" Another in a purple mask declared as the two of them swept in a pincer movement.

"You puny files!" The imposter yelled, dodging the first lunge and then a card that would've prevented him from logging out. That didn't stop the Knights as they made a second attempted to prevent him from logging out, but all that resulted in was hitting the other Knight as the imposter jumped out of the way. The fight ensued and it resulted in one Knight getting stuck in a tree and angrily declaring "I'll beat you in a duel next time we meet!"

Leading the imposter to reply "You're garbage that isn't worth duelling! Just be happy that I fought you!"

"You're Playmaker?" The voice of Dr Genome came out of seemingly nowhere.

"You showed up, Dr Genome!"

"I think it's time we left." Revolver said, directing the command at everyone. Leading the all of them bar Mammon to vanish from the scene.

This happened just as Dr Genome began a speech "Do you know what 'Genome' means? 'Genome' is a combination of 'gene' and 'Chromosome'. It's all the genetic information in DNA. When I researched it, I found that the arrangement of DNA and programs are similar."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I remember seeing your program, Go Onizuka!"

For a moment the imposter's face contorted but he then started to laugh "Since I got you to show up, I don't need this disguise anymore!" The program dissolved in golden pixels revealing that the imposter was indeed Go.

"So you've decided to join us and hunt Playmaker."

"I came here for Makoto." Go stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh. That guy." Dr Genome sounded disappointed "You came here for revenge?"

"Not only that. I know Playmaker's identity." That statement seemed to shock everyone watching from Den city, including Yusaku who was watching.

'W-What! First it's that Lucifinia creep, now it's Go! How is this even possible?' Ai was startled beyond belief.

"Why should I believe you?" Dr Genome sounded unimpressed.

"That's up to you. But let me declare this! Let's duel for Playmaker's identity and the Another virus removal program!"

But just as they were about to begin a voice penetrated the air "Halt!" Almost simultaneous with the command, the environment around them shifted, with the buildings moving and blocking off their paths nearly causing them to crash before the datastorm had created a path just about bringing them out of harm's way.

"What! Who the hell did that!?" Go yelled, behind him Dr Genome was just as perplexed as to how that happened.

"That would be me." At this time Seraph made himself know to the three onlookers, his hand glowing a deep purple colour. Slowly he began to walk to the edge of the building he was on. The faces pulled by the other three and everyone watching in the plaza only seemed to solidify the enigmatic nature of Seraph. He was casually meandering towards them on the air.

' _W-What! That's got to be impossible! No one can do that without a D-board!'_ Mammon's jaw had pretty much hit the floor whilst Seraph wandered ever closer before stopping right in the centre of the datastorm's track.

"How dare you interfere in our duel?! Get out of here now!" Go shouted once the initial shock of Seraph's entrance had subsided now he was filled with ire.

Seraph merely looked down his nose at the charisma duelist "Last time I checked, I had the power to manipulate this system to my will. I highly suggest you lower your head before you say something you may regret, Go Onizuka. However…" He then turned his attention to the other participants with a malicious crooked grin "Hanoi! You are my main target!"

That statement caught everyone completely off guard. The other day, the same person had kidnapped VRAINS' biggest idol, now he was playing the part of an anti-hero by declaring his position against Hanoi. Even Yusaku was struggling to piece two and two together.

The green haired male surveyed the landscape, his eyes then fell upon the frame of Mammon and he began to saunter over almost lethargically "Heh. So, it is me versus you then. How interesting…" Seraph said, getting right up in the hunter's face.

"If you think your little stunts and tricks will cause me to lose my cool then you've got anything coming." Mammon proclaimed defiantly, his look shifting from one of surprise to one of steely determination.

"I don't need to think if I already know. Man proposes, God disposes." Seraph replied cryptically as he retreated back to a position further on the rooftop "Now, let's make this a little more interesting." His hand began to glow a bright blazing orange colour and cracks began to form all around the nearby area, out of them flames began to erupt surrounding all of the duelists there. The outburst continued until it encapsulated the area in a dome shape, severing the data storm's connection which would've had potentially fatal consequences to the duelists on the D-boards if it weren't for the face that they were now independently flying in said dome. "This is a special circuit that was gifted to me by my contractor. Once ensnared in it, the only way to way out is if the holder is defeated in a duel. Until then every piece of data, every string of code, including your own personal code is under my control."

Go and Dr Genome both gulped audibly whilst Mammon tried his best to conceal his surprise under a mask of amusement "Is that so? Then, I'll just have to finish you off quickly then!"

In response Seraph laughed coldly, he then turned to Go and Dr Genome "You two are free to continue with your little spat if you want. Just don't disturb the adults here, you got that?" He sneered with a shit eating grin the size of the galaxy plastered on his face.

"Why you! You have no right to interfere! This is our battle!" Go snarled, wishing that he could just deck the little shit right here and now while Dr Genome stayed silent, holding his chin deep in thought _'He has a program like the data gale as well? Ryoken was correct, he is too dangerous to leave unattended_.'

Almost as soon as the words left Go's mouth, Seraph clenched his outstretched glowing hand. The effect was felt instantly as Go felt a sudden blast of pain surge through him causing him to fall on his knees, clutching his sides. "There's only one person in existence that can talk to me like that. I warned you to lower your head but it seems to have been lost in translation. Don't test me." Seraph retorted, the glow evaporating from his hand returning Go to normal as he faced Mammon again "Now, shall we begin?" He drawled as if nothing happened.

"So we shall." Mammon concurred, completely unfazed by Seraph's little show of strength.

" **Duel!** " Both of them declared simultaneously.

 **(SOL Technologies)**

" _Playing on repeat, how our gazes meet, in this world that we can call our own. All though you pretend that you don't know the end I can sense your yearning towards me."_ The singing voice belonged to a solitary figure watching the ensuing chaos enfold on the screen in his office. Within the hand under his chin, the black King Chess piece hung loosely between two fingers. _"This is a chain and there's no escape holding your life in all of its shape, if you fight, the sound of the time, will echo throughout my crime!"_

A smirk graced the man's features as he twirled the chess piece _'Haizaki Shirogane, SOL's guardian angel against Mammon, Hanoi's corrupted hunter. How interesting...'_

* * *

Mammon's LP: 4000 Seraph's LP: 4000 Cards x4

 **Turn 1**

"I'll take the first move." Seraph declared matter-of-factly "If one wishes to win they must make use of every advantage given to them. I activate the Continuous Spell **Ascendant Art – Cendrillon**!" Cendrillon's art showed Divine Ascendant Kuro and Kra flanking the towering form of Shi who controlled a Knight Chess piece in one hand and a Rook in the other. "Now, once per turn I can add one level 4 or lower Divine Ascendant from my deck to my hand however the downside is I will have to send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard at the end of my turn. The card I select is Divine Ascendant Kra which I now summon to the field!"

The bony orange angel emerged onto the field flexing its wings, its eyes glowing blue locking firmly on Mammon's person.

 **Divine Ascendant Kra, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (1600** /500 **)**

"Kra's effect activates. Once per turn when this card is normal or special summoned, I can add one Ascendant Art Spell or Trap card to my hand." Seraph scrolled through his choices for what seemed like an eternity before finally settling on one. An act that seemed to be deliberately provocative.

"I set two cards face down and my turn." Seraph finished, the two card materializing face down on the field and the top three cards of his deck vanishing. "I look forward to seeing what you can do."

Seraph's cards x3

 **Turn 2**

' _He's set up pretty much the same as he did against Colt, one of his face downs is likely Cantarella as he seems awfully fond of it. However, that other face down will be troublesome.'_ Mammon thought, surveying the field before he began his turn "Draw."

"To start, I summon Paladin of Corruption!" As a show of strength the tainted knight stuck its sword in the ground with all of its might.

 **Paladin of Corruption Level 4, Fiend, DARK, Effect** ( **1600** /1200)

"When I control a Corruption monster on my field that has less than 2000 attack points I can summon Corruption Gear to the field!" The rusted cog looked to be leaking some kind of fluid as it clattered onto the field, taking a position beside Paladin.

 _ **Corruption Gear Level 2, Fiend, DARK (**_ _0_ _ **/**_ **1000** _ **)**_

"Next I activate the Continuous Spell **Corruption Transcendence!** " Mammon's new spell depicted a scene of Corruption Dragon being engulfed in a beam of light whilst other monsters watched on. "While this card is face up on my field, my monsters can't be targeted or affected by any of my opponent's card effects." Mammon proclaimed with a triumphant grin on his face.

However, Seraph was right there to shatter any pretence of an advantage "My, my. You've done some research on my style I see. But for you to think that I duel the same way every time would be foolish of you to assume. I'm so much more than just a trickster." Even the way Seraph spoke, purposefully sounding pleasant yet lacing his words with a scathing undertone was unnaturally grating to anyone who had the displeasure of being nearby.

Mammon quickly pushed aside those thoughts and continued with his turn "Transcendence's downside is that each one of my standby phases I have to pay 500 life points to keep this card on the field. Now I activate Paladin of Corruption's effect! By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard I can deal you damage equivalent to half of my monster's attack points. That means 800 points." Paladin tore the sword from the ground and charged at Seraph who made no effort to get out of the way, the strike sending the guardian angel skidding back to the edge of the roof top.

Seraph's LP: **4000 – 3200**

"Pathetic." Seraph said clutching at his chest "You're going to have to try harder than that if you even wish to lick my boots. I activate my Continuous Trap **Ascendant Art – Divination!** " Divination's art showed Shi towering over a graveyard of monsters, some of which were decrepit and abandoned, while others appeared to be on fire with strings coming out of them. In Shi's hand was the Black King chess piece. "The effect of this card is as follows. Every time I receive damage through battle or a card effect I can summon one Divine Ascendant from my deck, hand or graveyard that has fewer attack points than the damage I sustained."

In SOL, Seraph's contractor was looking rather pleased with himself _'And so it begins.'_ He thought before activation his communicator "Haizaki, ignite his will. Make him throw away his façade and show the blazing desire he holds within him."

In responded to the message Seraph smirked "You don't have to tell me twice." He muttered to hide the conversation from his opponent "I now play Divination's effect. I summon **Divine Ascendant Midas** from my deck!"

Seraph's new monster was a much like the others, with the exception that it was golden and had a black centre unlike the others' blue one.

 **Divine Ascendant Midas, Level 2, Fairy, Effect, LIGHT (** 600/ **1000** )

"Midas' effect now activates. When this card is special summoned during my opponent's turn, I get to draw a card from my deck." Seraph declared as he added to his hand.

' _So that's his plan. If I damage him he can build up his field and summon his Link monster. However, if I do nothing and just sit back, he'll be the one to start the attack. In Layman's terms I can't win by defending I have to attack.'_ Mammon thought as he dissected the situation.

"Appear before me! The corrupted circuit that destroys all!" The Link gate appeared on the ground in front of Mammon as Paladin and Gear transformed into erratic blast of dark energy "The summoning conditions are two level 4 or lower effect monsters! Circuit combine! Ascend from the netherworld, Corruption Necromancer!" The robed figured emerged from the shadows of the Link gate, chanting something under its breath all the while.

 **Corruption Necromancer, Link 2, Fiend, Effect, DARK (1000) Lin Markers: Top, Bottom**

"Necromancer's effect!" Mammon declared with a relentless fever "By paying 500 life points I can summon one Corruption monster from my graveyard but it can't attack this turn. I summon Corruption Gear back to the field."

Mammon's LP: **4000 – 3500**

"Appear for the second time! My circuit!" The Link gate reappeared between Necromancer and Gear "The summoning conditions are two or more Corruption monsters with less than 2000 attack points! I set Corruption Gear and Necromancer in the Link markers! Circuit combine! Link 3, Corruption Grimdead!"

 **Corruption Grimdead, Link 3, Fiend, Effect, DARK (2000) Link Markers: Middle Left, Bottom Left, Top Left**

"Well, that's a surprise." Seraph drawled, removing his mask and throwing it to the ground "I expected that you'd summon your ace monster to get this over with quickly but you go and disappoint me by summoning that putrid thing."

"I don't do anything I don't plan for." Mammon replied trying his best to hide any irritation from getting through. _'If I attack Kra now I'll deal the damage but he can just replenish the loss right away alongside summoning another monster on his turn. It's better if I attack his other monster to stall for time.'_

Seraph simply stayed silent, simply smirking with a mischievous glint in his eyes all the while, almost as if he knew something was going to happen.

"Battle! Grimdead attacks Divine Ascendant Midas! Reaping Knell!" There was a ghostly chime as Grimdead vanished from the field, letting an uncanny silence settle over the area for a few moments until the Link monster reappeared in a flash, tearing Midas in half from behind. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Mammon's cards x2

"Midas' second effect." Seraph responded calmly, the blast from his angel's destruction not having any effect on his position "At the end of a turn when Midas is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can summon a monster from my hand or deck that is one level lower than his. I summon **Divine Ascendant Monous!** "

The new angel materialised in Midas' place, the main colour of the skeleton was deep crimson colour which contrasted greatly with the glowing white eyes and core that it had.

 **Divine Ascendant Monous, Level 1, Fairy, Effect, LIGHT (** 0 **/0)**

' _Damnit!'_ Mammon thought in frustration, his anger evident on his face which only made Seraph look even more amused than usual.

"I think you've figured out by now how trapped you truly are. Had you attacked Kra you would've allowed me to activate Divination's effect due to the damage I would've received. However, by attacking Midas you thought you could skirt round that effect…" Mocked Seraph callously in much the same vein as he had done with Colt during their duel "Honestly, I expected more out of a supposedly fearless bounty hunter who up until recently had a 100% success rate."

Mammon was about to retort as anger was already starting to consume him but Seraph interject before he could even open his mouth "But I guess that after all is said and done. Just like so many others I've met, you're nothing more than a tortured soul."

The rage Mammon felt only grew with every utterance and syllable that passed Seraph's lips "What the hell would you know!"

In reply Seraph simply clicked his tongue "Because I was one too. However, I was salvaged from my futility by a man who still guides me to this day. Since then I've made it my purpose to save those poor souls, just like a seraph who embraces everything with his wings."

The blue haired hunter simply shut his eyes tightly keeping his face as the picture of serenity but the clenched fists were evidence of his ire "Y'know, I hate people assuming thing about me or my choices. Do I deny that I'm a broken person? No. But I refuse to fall victim to any petty tricks!" He declared thrusting his fist outwards and opening his eyes which showed the usual feral nature that they held in Vrains.

His opposite number simply let out an amused laugh "Then show me, Mammon. Show me your true desire! Show me the commitment born from casting your life away!"

 **Turn 3**

"My turn, I draw!" Upon seeing the new card, Seraph's amused smirk turned into a full blown crooked grin "I summon Divine Ascendant Ciel to the field!" Ciel flexed its massive wings as it descended onto the field.

 **Divine Ascendant Ciel, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (1800** /900)

"Descend now! The holy circuit of angles!" The link gate appeared in the sky above Seraph as his angels transformed into streaks of light "The summoning conditions are two plus Divine Ascendant effect monsters! I set Divine Ascendant Kra, Ciel and Monous in the link markers! Circuit combine! Divine Ascendant Shi!"

Shi completely dwarfed every other monster on the field with his sheer size. Even managing to affect the other ongoing duel with just a singular beat of its colossal wings. "Wh-What is that thing?!" Go stuttered having caught a fleeting glimpse of the angel.

 **Divine Ascendant Shi, Link 3, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (2600) Link Markers: Top, Bottom and Bottom Left**

"Shi's effect. By banishing one Divine Ascendant from my graveyard I can summon an Ascendant token to a linked zone, then Shi gains 500 attack points. I banish Ciel from my graveyard." The token that materialized was a smaller version of Shi although its wings were folded in.

Shi's ATK: **2600 – 3100**

"Next I activate the equip spell **Ascendant Art – Hellfire** and equip it to Shi!" The card showed Shi absorbing the energy from a monster that was engulfed in flames and had its face broken in half, in the background a singed string could be seen. "Hellfire's effect is as follows. The equipped monster can no longer declare a direct attack but they gain 300 attack points for each Divine Ascendant I control." Shi took on a more hellish appearance as his strength increased.

Shi's ATK: **3100 – 3400**

"Battle! Shi attacks Grimdead! Supreme Will!" Shi vanished almost instantaneously vanished from Seraph's field but then it soon reappeared above the two duelists. Its wings were soon charged with energy which was then loosed at Mammon's link monster.

Mammon acted immediately "I activate the trap **Corruption Entrenchment!** " The art on this card showed an old weary looking fortification being guarded to the last man by numerous Corruption monsters while Corruption Dragon led the charge against the enemy "By discarding one Corruption monster from my hand that has less attack points than the defending monster, I can have Grimdead gain attack points equivalent to the discarded monster's attack. I send Corruption Ritual Imp to the graveyard!"

Grimdead's ATK: **2000 – 3000**

CRI had just enough time to latch onto Grimdead before Shi's attack landed and disintegrated the two monsters as Mammon shielded himself from the blast.

Mammon's LP: **3500 – 3100**

"When I control no Corruption monsters on my field Transcendence is destroyed." Mammon grunted as the card disintegrated into pixels.

Seraph looked ecstatic if one looked closely they could even see a fire burning behind his eyes "That's it! That's the thing that makes you who you are!" He threw his head back and let out a bellowing laugh.

"What?" Mammon was too confused by his opponent's actions to even form a proper reply.

"Why do we continue on? When all of our hope is gone? Charge into the rain of fire, just let go of all our desires? It's all because of our own burning will as humans!" Seraph replied franticly, his body trembling with excitement "As a seraph it is my purpose to guide the lost souls, to stop their tears. However, those who seek to be something they are not test my patience. Those who relinquish their will are trash who gave up being human."

Recovering from his momentary confusion, Mammon quickly let an amused smirk grace his features "That's some philosophy you got there. In layman's terms your will as a human is ascendant upon all else. I wonder how you managed to pick that up." His voice matching the previous mocking tone of Seraph's.

"Patience is a virtue." Seraph said condescendingly with a scowl etched on his face "It's all thanks to my saviour. He dragged me out of the abyss, he told me that so long as we have our own will we are in ascendance even above the angels. Man proposes, God disposes. Only through offering all that you are can you even sniff your goal. Failure is a sin I can't abide." He finished, purposefully dragging out the last statement.

Before Mammon could even process what was said, Seraph powered on relentlessly "That's enough talk! I use my second main phase to activate the spell card **Ascendant Art – Burning Decree!** " His new spell once more showed Shi in his position of absolute authority "This card's effect is as follows. This card can only be activated if I control a Divine Ascendant Link monster, until the end of my next turn, Shi now gains attack points equal to the total amount of Link Markers currently on the field x200 that is an increase of 600." The fire around Shi intensified further causing the fallen angel to look even more demonical.

Shi's ATK: **3400 – 4000**

"I set one card face down and end my turn. With that any monsters on my field that didn't declare an attack this turn are destroyed." As Seraph's turn ended, Shi turned and with the flick of his wrist obliterated the token, leaving him as the only monster on the field.

Shi's ATK: **4000 - 3500**

Seraph's cards x2

In SOL technologies, the hellish master couldn't help but smirk at the sight, the chess piece still firmly in his grasp _'Oh what tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive. Haizaki, you excel yourself. Truly, I was right to pick you above all those worthless wretches who call themselves human.'_ The master then activated the link again "You know where to go from here." All that was received over the communication line was the sound of an eerily calm laugh causing the smirk to widen into a full blow grin.

Elsewhere, the mood at the Hanoi base was much different. "Any progress on breaking through that circuit yet?" Revolver asked, a frown on his face as he watched both Mammon and Dr Genome's duels.

"Not as of yet, Master Revolver." Spectre replied dutifully "This program is unlike anything else in the network world. However…" The pause caused Revolver's eyes to flicker to his right hand man "The general makeup would appear be to be remarkably similar to our own data gale and if you would allow me I could isolate a weakness, possibly compromising the whole structure."

After a brief period of contemplation, Revolver relented "Very well, Spectre." With that his assistant disintegrated, leaving him the solitary figure.

"With the doors of heaven and hell barred, there is no other but the guard. The Master of the Hellish Yard." At least that's what he originally thought until Dr Kogami appeared out of the blue.

"The hellish master is one who stands at the crossroads, allowing even the vilest of villains to pass so long as they pay him." Revolver said, clutching at his right arm as the frown grew deeper.

"If we were judged by our very sins alone, then why would the world have wound up as it is? It doesn't matter to him if it seemed there was no pardon on earth for his sins, he believes that since he has authority who are the gods to judge?" Kogami then sent a penetrating look down to his son, his fists fluctuating between being clenched with anger and hanging freely "Ryoken, we can't allow that man to wrong anymore people than he has already."

Revolver simply remained silent, insistent on keeping his attention to the two ongoing duels.

 **Turn 4**

' _His spell and trap zone is full now. But that doesn't mean I'm out of the woods. Two of those cards are face down and he still has two cards in his hand, judging from his normal playstyle, those cards will likely also contain effects to prevent me from dealing any significant damage.'_ Mammon thought as he carefully analysed the field in front of him, the towering presence of Shi seemed to even set him on edge, not helping was the uneasiness of Seraph's disposition.

"I draw. I activate Cesspool of Corruption, which at the cost of sending the last remaining card from my hand to the graveyard allows me to add two Corruption monsters from my deck to my hand." The two cards Mammon selected replaced the discarded card in his hand.

"Next I summon Corruption Marionpet **!** " The demented puppet came onto the field with a ghastly giggle. The stings holding the puppet in place were close to being severed with only one actually remaining semi taut.

 _ **Corruption Marionpet, Level 2, Fiend, Effect, DARK**_ _(_ **0** _/_ _0)_

"Marionpet's effect! During the turn that it is summoned, I can select one Corruption monster in my graveyard and summon it to the field, provided I render the monster's effect and attack points, null and void." The puppet cackled as a pair of strings dipped into the vortex behind Mammon. "I revive my Paladin of Corruption!" Paladin of Corruption was pulled out attached to the same half worn strings as Marionpet.

"I now activate the effect of Corruption Entrenchment from the graveyard! By banishing this card I can add one 'Corruption' spell or trap card to my hand from my deck or graveyard." Mammon carefully scrolled through his options, the wrong choice could spell the end of this duel.

"Finally, I summon Corruption Trojan to the field." The repugnant worm slimed its way next to Marionpet.

 **Corruption Trojan, Level 3, DARK, Fiend, Effect (** **0/** 1000 **)**

"No matter what you do, it's completely worthless." Seraph interject, his tone as cold as could be and his expression one of utter disdain and contempt "Shi is ascendant above any pitiful monster that you could possibly summon. And that's the least of your worries." In flash the guardian angel's expression contorted as one of his face downs flipped up "I activate the Continuous Trap **Ascendant Art – Divine Mandate!** " The image on Mandate showed Shi standing beside a shadowy monster of a similar stature that had glowing white eyes. In both hands was the white King chess piece. "This card can only be activated if the only monster I control is a Divine Ascendant Link monster. Now all monsters on the field must attack Shi or face being destroyed at the end turn."

' _That's why he destroyed that token, by having it he was able to strengthen his attack on me but by letting it be destroyed it allowed him to active that trap and consolidate his hold on the field.'_ Mammon shut his eyes and placed his trembling clenched fist over the right one.

"Has it finally sunk in? How utterly meaningless this whole spat is?" Seraph's tone was mocking but if one listened closely there was the faintest hint of disappointment beneath all the snark.

However, the sound of supressed laughter from Mammon shattered that pretence quickly. The hunter had a malicious grin on his face and could no longer hold back, releasing it all in one burst "If you think that's going to make me lose hope then you're dead wrong! I don't give a shit what you think of the situation, I've been in far worse, being forced to sacrifice my own body to survive. All the scars that cover me are etched into my psyche, I will never allow myself to fail without giving everything."

Seraph's face lit up in pure ecstasy at Mammon's tirade "So then! Let's ignite our wills! Give it all you've got and don't back down in the slightest!"

"With pleasure!" Mammon declared fervently "I activate Trojan's effect! By paying 500 life points, I can summon one Trojan token to my side of the field!" The smaller worm freed itself from its slime ridden prison and joined the fray.

Mammon's LP: **3100 – 2600**

"Now, appear before me! The corrupted circuit that destroys all! The summoning conditions are at least two Corruption monsters! I set Corruption Trojan, the Trojan token and Marionpet in the link markers! Circuit combine! Descend the embodiment of my soul! Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon!" There was a deafening screech as Corruption Dragon flexed its wings causing a huge gust of wind to consume the two duelists. Once it had cleared both Shi and Corruption Dragon were staring each other down with a look of burning hatred, the aura around both monsters turning toxic.

"Corruption Dragon gains attack points equal to the levels of the monster in its Link markers x200. The only monster currently is Paladin of Corruption but that is still 800 extra points."

Corruption Dragon's ATK: **2400 – 3200**

"To finish, I equip Corruption Dragon with the spell **Corruption Tainted Entrails!** " This card showed Corruption Dragon crushing one opposing monster beneath its claws while it was in the process of setting the army in front of it alight "At the cost of paying 500 life points for each of my standby phases I can prevent the destruction of my monster in battle once per turn."

"Ah, it would seem you've figured out a loophole." Seraph huffed in annoyance closing his left eye while narrowing his right one.

"The issue with relying on tricks, is that once the audience gets wise to their machinations, they lose their effectiveness." Mammon replied looking awfully pleased with himself "If you wish to know, I assumed that since you were relying on that monster alone you had a card that would go along with that strategy. In addition, your Hellfire equip spell prevents him from attacking directly meaning that the only way you could damage me would be through either forcing me to summon a monster or me doing it of my own accord. But by doing so I risk my monster's destruction so when I activated Entrenchment's effect I choose a card that would negate that risk."

"Tch. Well done." Seraph stated dully, the previous fire he held disappearing into the wind, his eyes dulling back down to their usual nature "But that means nothing in the long run, you still have to attack Shi no matter what."

"Then let there be war. Battle! Corruption Dragon attack Shi! Judgement of Corruption!" The black bolts fired by Corruption Dragon were easily repulsed by the massive angel and started to bombard Mammon's creature "Entrails' effect! My dragon's destruction is prevented." The dragon vanished from the field as the bolts blasted the area around the hunter.

Mammon's LP: **2600 – 2300**

"Don't think you're out of the woods just yet!" Seraph declared, a sense of ire creeping into his voice "I activate the effect of **Divine Ascendant Plutarch** from my hand." The ghostly image of a violet angel superimposed itself on the field "By sending this card from my hand to the graveyard any damage dealt this turn is doubled!" The ghastly spirt then lunged at Mammon as a purple aura surrounded the blue haired hunter.

Mammon's LP: **2300 – 2000**

"I end my turn, with that Paladin is destroyed via Hellfire's effect and your Divine Mandate is now null and void." Mammon said, now somewhat comfortable about his situation even as his monster's strength decreased

Corruption Dragon's ATK: **3200 – 2400**

Shi's ATK: **3500 – 2900**

Mammon's cards x0

In Hanoi, Dr Kogami watched on deep in thought _'Dantous, I can see why you talked so highly of him.'_

 **Turn 5**

"I draw." Seraph said settling into a kind of uneasy monotone "I activate Shi's effect and banish Plutarch from my graveyard to summon the token." The miniature Shi materialised right next to his larger counterpart

Shi's ATK: **2900 - 3700**

"Next, I activate the effect of Cendrillon. I summon Divine Ascendant Rota to the field!" The bony green angel settled in place next to the token, its appearance increasing the power of Shi once more.

 **Divine Ascendant Rota, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (1200/** 500)

Shi's ATK: **3700 – 4600**

The guardian angel made no attempt at snide mind games this time round and instead launched head first into his battle phase "Battle! Shi attacks Corruption Dragon! Judgement ray!"

As Shi vanished into the ether Seraph spoke up "Let me enlighten you for a second, Shi has 4600 attack points and yours only holds a pathetic 2400. If you do the maths that means 2200 points of damage and I'm sure you're perfectly aware that you have 2000 life points." Just as Shi reappeared above the field Seraph's face contorted "In layman's terms that's game over!"

"Ha." Was all that was initially heard from Mammon's side as Shi's attack grew ever closer until he spoke with a condescending tone that mimicked Seraph's own perfectly "How sure of that are you?" And with that Seraph grunted and staggered backwards "I activate the second effect of Entrails. By sending this card to the graveyard and paying half of my life points not only is Corruption Dragon safe from destruction but I take no damage from your attack!"

Corruption Dragon vanished from the field once more leaving the powerful blast to cleave into Mammon. The intensity of the blast caused a deep gash in his body that showed the red data beneath alongside the smoke that billowed out.

Mammon's LP: **2000 – 1000**

"Tch. Persistent bastard. I end my turn here." Seraph grumbled getting increasingly pissed at his lack of success. To compound the issue he couldn't attack again without suffering damage so his booster monsters had vanished dropping Shi's attack.

Shi's ATK: **4600 – 2900**

Seraph's cards x2

The smug look that Mammon gave him as he ended his turn was all it took to set him off, the orange glow returned to his hand and in a fit of rage he crushed his fist hard. In an instant Mammon felt his entire body ignite in blistering pain. Pain intense enough to knock him off stable footing and to the ground. "You insolent maggot, you don't even deserve the mercy of a seraph. I'll crush you to the ground!" He tightened his fist so hard it could have drawn blood if he went just that little bit further.

Despite the pure agony that coursed through him Mammon replied albeit it struggling all the while to form a coherent sentence "S-so this is who you truly are then? T-the holy guardian angel is in fact a tainted devil?" Taken aback by the retort Seraph's grip loosened, quelling the pain immensely and allowing Mammon to return to level ground. "Someone close to me once said to me that demons don't cry, they became demons because they couldn't cry anymore, and when their tears finally run dry there is nothing left of them but a demon or a monster."

By the time Seraph had picked himself up from his daze, the orange glow had all but disintegrated from his hand "Shut up! You know nothing!"

But just as he went to activate the program again the hellish master's voice returned to the scene "Oh Haizaki, don't get caught up in his little mind games. Surely a person like you is more than capable of beating this wretch. Think of it just like a chess game." At that Seraph had an epiphany of sorts and his previous irate expression had returned to his usual amused look "The King has only one move left meanwhile you control a bishop and a rook in prime position."

Seraph merely laughed in reply "The bird of Hermes is my name eating my wings to make me tame."

 **Turn 6**

Just as Mammon's turn began, Spectre rematerialised back into the base "Master Revolver, I've made a breakthrough in the barrier's coding. I must say, whoever made the program must have been pushed for time as once you kick the door in and the whole structure is compromised."

"Well done, Spectre." Revolver commended with Spectre returning to his side. However, there was a sense of unease that floated around his body. For all its complexity had it really fallen that easily? To him it just didn't seem right. Nevertheless he swiftly shook those thoughts from his head.

It also appeared that Playmaker had a similar breakthrough as he was now an arbiter on Dr Genome and Go's duel. Intentionally riling Go up to try and provoke a turnaround in the match.

"My turn, I draw!" Mammon proclaimed fervently and when he saw the drawn card he couldn't help but laugh loudly "I activate the effect of Tainted Entrails from the graveyard! By banishing this card paying 500 life points I can summon one Corruption monster from my graveyard that has 500 or fewer attack points but its effect will be negated! I summon Paladin of Corruption back to the field." For the third time this duel, Paladin descended upon the field, the presence of the other monster rejuvenating the beleaguered Corruption Dragon.

Corruption Dragon's ATK: **2400 – 3200**

Mammon's LP: **1000 – 500**

"That's still not enough." Seraph stated simply "Even if you somehow surpass Shi I have a multitude of ways to continue but you only have one. Face it, you'll never bet me on your own accord. Man proposes, God disposes!"

"Is that so?" With that Seraph's face fell and Mammon smirked maliciously "I activate the Spell Card **Corruption Storm Blast!** " The scene shown was similar to Mammon's Corruption Twin Twister but this time it depicted a far more thunderous storm that swept up everything in its path "By halving my life points once more I can destroy every spell and trap card that you control!"

"W-what?!" Seraph stuttered a sentiment shared by his contractor, both of them watching in disbelief as every one of the cards were shattered right before their eyes.

Mammon's LP: **500 – 250**

Shi then turned to face the dejected form of Seraph who then spoke meekly "When Ascendant Art – Hellfire is destroyed by an opponent's card effect, I take damage equal to the original attack points of the equipped monster." With what almost seemed like pity, Shi reluctantly struck his master, blowing him back to the edge of the building.

Seraph's LP: **3200 – 600**

"Battle!" Mammon exclaimed just as Seraph returned to stable ground "Corruption Dragon destroy Divine Ascendant Shi! Akutoku no Jajjimento!"

As the energy bolts zigzagged their way towards Shi Seraph dropped all pretence and yelled at the top of his lungs "No one is ever going to defeat me unless I say so! I've yet to offer all that I can! I activate the effect of **Divine Ascendant Tetrameter!** " An icy blue angel with a deep crimson core and spikes materialised between the blast and Shi "When a face up Divine Ascendant monster I control is under attack I can have us both take the same amount of damage!" The blast hit into Tetrameter allowing the angel to absorb most of the energy. It then exploded shortly afterwards sending both duelists flying and kicking up a massive dust cloud.

Mammon's LP: **250 – 0**

Seraph's LP: **600 – 0**

 **Draw!**

As the cloud settled it revealed the sheer extent of the devastation of their duel, the area surrounding the two of them had been wiped from the network entirely while the building they had stood on was now split in two. On one side, Seraph was barely able to stand, in his right hand he clutched his mask tightly, the left hand was grasped tightly were his heart was and he had a scowl etched onto his face. His avatar also looked a lot worse for wear, his scarf had been torn in multiple places and now resembled the real life version while other parts had become torn, exposing his bare body beneath.

Meanwhile, Mammon had been left lying on the ground. He too had come out much worse for wear. There were numerous deep gashes which didn't seem to be healing themselves and when he attempted to get back up, his body couldn't handle the strain and he fell back down to earth unceremoniously.

Out of them the first to speak was Seraph "D-Don't t-think for a second you will ever beat me. I will s-see hell only when I want t-to." The grip of the hand over his heart tensed even further as his face contorted in pain. He fumbled to place the mask back over his face.

"Hmph. I guess we agree on something." Mammon replied having now given up hope of getting up.

Then with an annoyed huffed and a flick of his wrist Seraph had vanished from the scene.

For a moment everything was peaceful allowing Mammon to look up at the digital sky, grinning all the while. He smirked as he heard the sound of footsteps near him. "You did well, Sateriasis." The voice of Revolver widened the grin even further.

"I wouldn't necessarily call this a success." Mammon said with a self-deprecating tone, gesturing to the cuts on his body.

Revolver merely laughed at the hunter's antics, a slight smile forming on his lips. "Don't worry about it. We got valuable information out of this duel. You can rest easy now." Both of the knights then vanished from the scene

Elsewhere, Dr Genome and Go's duel had come to an end. It had been a slugfest, the upper hand constantly changing with every single turn. But in the end Go came out on top, sending Dr Genome careening to the earth, skidding back and having his D-board stick into the ground.

After soaking up the adoration and his success, Go travelled down to face the defeated Knight. Digging through his pockets for the removal program "I'm taking the virus removal program, as promised."

"Good guy to heel, heel to good guy." Dr Genome scoffed, talking about the fiasco Go had put on during the duel "You call that evolving?"

"I make the evolution process entertaining." Go replied "That's why I'm the world's number one entertainer - Go Onizuka!"

Dr Genome laughed "You'll regret defeating me." He then disintegrated into black particles, leaving the spot his body was bare.

"Playmaker." Go said to the hacker"You said you came here to laugh at me. But that was a lie to motivate me. Am I wrong?"

"Who knows?" Playmaker said with casual indifference.

"I will defeat you someday!" Go declared "But the Knights of Hanoi are destroying Link VRAINS. I'll crush them first! Feel free to join me."

"Right."

"What about you, Blue Angel?" The female idol appeared, stone faced. Staring at them for a while before turning away and vanishing.

 **(SOL Technologies)**

Sitting behind his desk, the hellish master sat drumming his fingers against the desk, a smirk planted firmly on his lips _'Haizaki may have failed with objective one but that is meaningless in the long run.'_ He then brought up information form an unknown location hidden deep within the network _'Objective two was the one I really wanted. I've got you now.'_

"The Knights of Hanoi." The master drawled calmly.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that took so long to get out but I recently started my A-Levels and my workload just left no real time for me to write this.** **Anyway, please tell me what you thought of this chapter.**

 **QOTC: Who do you think Seraph's contractor is? (To be honest if you read closely it's not very hard. I won't be annoyed if you post it in the review to be honest)**

 **Anyway, see ya next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: The Muzzle of Nemesis**

"Dad?" There was a certain apprehension to Allen's voice as he entered into the study where his father sat in wait, a certain book resting in one of his hands while the other was perched on the side of his face "What was it you wanted to speak to me about?"

"Allen." Zitor began with a tone harsh enough to cause the usually overconfident duelist shake "I know you've been sneaking out of the house when I'm out and there's no use trying to deny it. That black eye of ours is more than enough evidence." Allen began to subconsciously rub said eye as his dad's tirade continued "Listen here. Orders are the easiest thing in the world to follow, one shouldn't need to be intelligent to realise that we as humans require rules and orders to function smoothly as a society. However, if one steps out of line… Let's just say that person isn't long for this society."

"Dad! I was just talking to Sat! I didn't mean to disobey you." After starting with a shout, Allen finish went out on a whimper, burying his face in his hands, unable to bring himself to face his father.

Zitor started to rhythmically tap his free hand on the desk "Nevertheless, you did so, but I'll be lenient since you and Marlon have been friends for the past 10 years so I suppose it's to be expected."

Allen breathed a momentary sigh of relief but was still on edge. He felt that there was still more to come, his father may have returned to reading but that didn't mean that he was done. His father was only finished when he said he was finished.

His suspicions where confirmed when Zitor began to quote from the book in his usual calm tone " _If there is a God who rules this world, it is stern, merciless, and definitely an evil being. A being that is far too great. God keeps forcing us to confront these cruel fates. As those are simply the rules of this world! I think it's time we took over God's work. We, soldiers, will take God's place.'_ Are you aware of Degurechaff's work, Allen?" He said sternly, not lifting his eyes from the page.

"I can't say I am, Dad." It wasn't a total lie, on numerous occasions when he was younger Allen had crept into the study and seen the books his father collated over the years. Degurechaff, he found, had become the most prominent author in the collection. The Kurati duelist had little knowledge on the true content of the novels but titles such as 'On humanity and faith.' And 'Being X's system: How society is broken.' Weren't exactly subtle hints. "I don't think there's a reason for me to be." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could even realise.

"Hmm." Zitor hummed contently before speaking again "Maybe it'll help you to learn that nothing happens without a reason. No matter how ridiculous it all seems, something has triggered it for a reason." The head of development then discarded the book and store his son down in full force "Although, that is just the tip of the iceberg, only people who are ascendant even above the angels have the ability to do so. That shall be all, Allen."

* * *

 **(Next Day)(SOL Technologies)**

"Lucifinia, would you care to explain to us just what is happening?" The virtual chessboard was laid out again, the three executives' pieces facing down a rather smug looking Zitor. It was Bishop that had initiated the conversation. "Not only has the security of the system been all but eroded by Hanoi's attacks, the very foundation of this network you claim to have created has been compromised by this mysterious Seraph individual. Explain yourself now."

"I'm deeply sorry for letting this situation slip as much as I have." Zitor replied, totally unfazed by the questioning, the reply even had the slightest hint of arrogance laden within it "However, to hang the albatross around my neck is a grave mistake. Many of the decisions of the security department were taken outside of my control. Kitamura is a wastrel who can't do anything but screw up."

"Regardless, that still leaves the question of Seraph." Rook interjected "Someone how he managed to hack into the code of the network, something you are directly responsible for."

In response, Zitor shrugged and simply waved the concern off "You never know with hackers these days, Playmaker and his helper have broken through numerous times and Hanoi have created a private server, a server that we are incapable of locating. So in all fairness, Seraph is doing nothing out of the ordinary."

"Nonsense!" Rook scoffed "If this is left to continue the whole network will cease to exist!"

"Then we will simply build it from scratch again." Zitor replied without missing a beat, going right back on the offensive "Remember, this isn't the first form of the cyberse network we've created, it will certainly not be the last. This is simply progress marching forward, survival of the fittest and victory always comes to those who are the first to adapt. In layman's terms, you have little need to be panicking like you are now."

"Lucifinia!" Bishop cut in before anyone said something they may regret "This meeting has run its course. However, if you go back and this situation fails to get better, expect our prior agreements to be null and void.

At this Zitor's face hardened and the suffocating smugness vanished from his person "That I will not allow and I already have a system in place to make sure that it doesn't."

"This is your last chance Lucifinia, make sure that nothing on the level of the Anothers happen again and your job is safe. Fail and we'll have to have a discussion on your worth to the company. That is all."

"Yes, Sir." Zitor bowed before turning and leaving the room, the board evaporating as he walked out with a scowl on his face, pulling out his phone and barging into the passing Akira and Hayami on his way through.

' _Lucifinia… What are you planning?'_ Akira thought, turning back around _'No matter the event you always seem to have some sort of peripheral role in everything.'_

"M-Mr. Zaizen, w-what's wrong with M-Mr Lucifinia?" Hayami, his assistant stuttered, hiding her face behind the clipboard she was carrying.

"Lucifinia is like an enigma wrapped in a mystery. It is impossible to truly understand what goes on in that man's head but I would bet that he's been told something that he didn't want to hear." Akira replied, his eyes were narrowed in the direction Zitor had taken off in.

' _I'll get you one day Lucifinia.'_

* * *

 **(Den Academy)**

' _I swear to god, if I have to listen through another word out of this prat's mouth, I'm going to turn him into an another!'_ The event that had triggered this thought in Sateriasis' head was that upon the beginning of the duel club, Naoki had immediately shoved his tablet in everyone's faces "Hanoi are doing whatever they like! How can we just let them run amok?!"

"Okay then. Tell me. What is your plan, Naoki?" Sateriasis said feigning interest "Because without a plan in advance, you will get nowhere."

Naoki's face fell but he soldiered on "It shouldn't matter about a plan! Since Link VRAINS is in trouble, the duel club should take action! Right, Zaizen? President?"

Sateriasis had to cover his mouth to muffle a laugh "You do realise that if we do take action. There is a high likelihood that we'll all be turned into Anothers."

Naoki made on desperate last glance to the president who then spoke "You want us to take action? You want us to go into Link VRAINS and duel against Hanoi?"

"Well… I'm going! I can't stay on the side lines anym-"

"No! Marlon's right, it's too dangerous. If you or anyone in this club get turned into Anothers, I'll regret it forever. The duel club is suspended until the Another issue is resolved."

"But…!"

"No, the President and Marlon are correct we shouldn't go into VRAINS." Aoi said, rather despondent.

It was then on the feed of VRAINS, that Playmaker had appeared to the salvation of a rather idiotic person who thought they could defeat the Knights. "We'll let Playmaker handle the situation. We'll meet again when there is peace." Hosoda got up from his seat and went to the door with everyone bar Sateriasis, Aoi and Naoki following him out.

"Come on! You two will help right?!" Naoki appealed in desperation.

"Listen here and listen well, Naoki." Sateriasis began "There's a big difference between being brave and being reckless. At the moment there is no need for useless duelists to go into the fray, you should leave it to the professionals like Go, Playmaker and Blue Angel, whenever the latter gets her finger out of her ass." He finished distastefully, side eyeing the charisma duelist sitting next to him.

Aoi bit her lip. She had originally planned to fight alongside the two aforementioned duelists, but when they had offered it to her. She walked away… Like a coward. The reason why still wasn't exactly clear to her, was it fear of failing? Was it fear of once more falling victim to Hanoi's virus? If anything, the fact she had been previously wronged by the cyber terrorist group would serve as motivation for making sure it wouldn't happen to anyone else. Was she just being selfish?

"What would you do in this kind of situation, Zaizen?" Sateriasis said snapping her out of her reverie.

There was definitely something off about the question and the fact Aoi could see Sateriasis trying his best to keep a straight face didn't exactly help her quell her suspicions "I'm not sure really. I agree with you that innocent people shouldn't be reckless and jump head first into the fire but where I disagree with you is that we should leave it to the 'professionals', everyone has the ability to beat Hanoi."

' _Real smooth, Blue Angel. Let us see how well that holds up in practice.'_ Sateriasis thought, hiding the dark smirk behind his hand.

* * *

 **(Later) (Hanoi)**

Revolver stood silently in the base by himself watching the plan he had set out be put into motion. It was true that Dr Genome's failure was unforeseen and unwanted by every one of the higher ups in the organisation, but if they could fulfil his father's goal then his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

Baira had already left for the second phase of the mission and Mammon, who Revolver wanted to keep in reserve due to the lingering damage from the Seraph duel, had insisted on going with her. Not really giving a concreate reason, but the two of them knew exactly why he want to go so he relented after much prodding.

It was in this climate that he felt the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stand up, just as an arrow of data passed by his head. The sound of footsteps also began to reverberate around the base. "If you want to face me then stop hiding in the shadows. Who are you?"

"Y'know, I was always told that you shouldn't ask questions that you don't want to know the answer to." Said a voice from somewhere in the base, it was modulated much like Mammon's was but this time it held more demonical air to it.

Revolver growled, that voice was all too familiar "Show yourself!" He declared fervently.

"Well then, who am I to deny your request? _Master Revolver_." The voice said in a mocking tone as their body came into view. The figure that emerged stood at about 6'3, easily towering over the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, it was also very clearly male. He was clad in long green hooded cloak, underneath was a bronze armour set. It contrasted greatly with the glistening golden rings that adorned his arms and neck. Attached to his right arm was an old fashioned black duel disk. To finish the look off was a black mask with ornate blue markings on it and a singular eyehole which showed off the figure's purple eye.

"I'll ask you once more, how did you get here?"

The figure simply laughed dryly "Do you remember the other day? Where Genome duelled Go while Mammon and Seraph faced off? Don't you think that Seraph's circuit went down a little too easily?" Revolver's eyes widened and he felt sick in stomach, that uneasy feeling he had at the time was now justified. "By terminating it, you led me straight to your base."

"The Master of the Hellish Yard, is that the title you're taking now?" Revolver said with a creeping sense of ire in his voice.

"If you don't mind that is." The hellish master scoffed, rolling his eyes "But that's a mouthful, if we're to continue this conversation call me Zamiel."

"Fine then, _Zamiel_." Revolver spat out, almost as if the name was a poison on his tongue.

Zamiel could only laugh "Y'know I expected you to change over the course of these ten years, yet, it would appear that you're still the same tortured soul, no matter what persona you take on." The visible eye gained a sight mischievous glint to it while his voice started to alter to a more Seraph like tone "Be it the angelic image of a saviour you carried then, or the devilish one of the fearsome cyber-terrorist you now cultivate, all you truly are is a boy who feels ensnared by the chains of his father's work and is now honour bound to fulfil the madman's wishes."

Revolver tried his best to keep his face impassive but it was betrayed by his body language, evidenced by the tight grip he had arm, which if any tighter could've possibly drawn blood "You just described why I fight on, Zamiel." At that the person in question let out an amused sound "By fulfilling my Father's goals, not only are the vile Ignises eradicated, my Father too can pass on peacefully."

"Then let me test that resolve." Zamiel said, extending his duel disk arm out "If you can defeat me in a duel then I'll leave you be for the next stage of your plan and I'll even go as far as to tell my disciple that he should stave off any further attacks on your men, in addition to having him formally apologise for the incident the other day." The Seraph like tone vanished and the demonic one had returned in full force.

"So be it, I accept your conditions." Revolver said as the layout for the master duel appeared in the centre between them _'With the doors of heaven and hell barred, there is no other but the guard, the Master of the Hellish Yard. Everything this man touches ends up causing pain and suffering, I stop him here and now.'_

" **Master Duel!** " Both of them declared simultaneously.

* * *

Revolver LP: 4000 Zamiel LP: 4000 Cardsx5

 **Turn 1**

"I'll be going first." Zamiel stated calmly, plucking one of the cards from his hand "To start, I summon **Free Shooter Drax**!" The monster that appeared was certainly _interesting_ in its design. One on half it looked like an ordinary, albeit, slightly grizzled human but on the other side it was a demon set ablaze in in a sea of fire. Carried in the human's hand was a long hunting rifle while the demon half carried a trident.

 **Free Shooter Drax, Level 4, Pyro, FIRE, Effect (0** /0)

' _0 attack points. He lampoons me for sticking to the past but he's barely changed himself!'_ Revolver thought with an increasing sense of ire, his eyes flickering over to Zamiel's frame once more. Even the way the man was holding himself caused anger to flare in him, Revolver mused that under the mask he was probably wearing that same shit-eating grin from all those years ago.

"I'm sure you remember this card." Yes, that grin was almost certainly planted on his lips. "I now activate its effect, by paying 200 life points I can summon one more copy of this card from my deck." The copy materialised beside its originator, this time the demonic and human sides were swapped around.

Zamiel's LP: **4000 – 3800**

"Next comes the Continuous Spell **Hunting Zone**!" The card art depicted the scene of three brawny looking huntsman riding on top of purebred horse, they were chasing down what appeared to be a demonic hybrid of sorts "This card can only be activated when there are two monsters of the same name on my field, when it is active on my side of the field all monsters that I control can't be targeted for attacks, instead it is changed to a direct attack on me."

' _His and Spectre's styles are essentially the same, except that while Spectre is focused on keeping his life points to the maximum, he instead decreases his as much as possible.'_

There was a clatter of metal on metal that reverberated eerily around the base as Zamiel threw out his arm "Ascend from the black void! My circuit of despair! The summoning conditions are two Free Shooter fire monsters! I set my two Draxes into the link markers!" Both huntsmen dissolved into black mist which slinked its way to the top and top right markers. "Circuit combine! Link 2! **Free Shooter Zander!** "

Out of the void in the centre between the two duelists, a pair of black gloved hands slowly pulled a body up from the depths of the link gate. This time round the monster was fully human and a towering specimen at that. With a cocky grin on his face, Zander was holding a double barrelled shotgun which was locked firmly to his shoulder. He was also wearing a get up that included numerous knifes laden on a belt.

 **Free Shooter Zander, Link 2, Pyro, FIRE, Effect (0)** **Link Markers: Top and Top right**

"Zander's effect. This monster gains 200 attack points for each Free Shooter with a different name in my graveyard."

Zander's ATK: **0 – 200**

"Finally, I'll set one card face down and end my turn." The card appeared on the field and then vanished with Zander turning intangible as well. "It's your move."

Zamiel's Cards x1

 **Turn 2**

"I draw." There was a slight quirk of Revolver's lips as he saw the card he drew, he knew exactly how to go about this "To start, since you control a Link monster I can Special summon Gateway Dragon to the field!" A golden mechanical dragon appeared on the field in the Middle Monster Zone.

 **Gateway Dragon, Level 4, Dragon, DARK, Effect (1600** /1400 **)**

"Gateway Dragon's effect activates. Once per turn I can Special Summon one level 4 or lower dragon type monster from my hand!" He moved to tap the middle card "I summon Sniffer Dragon to the fray!" A bipedal dragon with red and white scales, wearing some armour pieces, emerged from a blue portal with a roar in Revolver's Far Left Monster Zone.

 **Sniffer Dragon, Level 2, Dragon, DARK, Effect (800** /400)

"Sniffer Dragon's effect activates upon its summon! I can add one dragon type monster from my deck to my hand, I add another Sniffer Dragon which I then summon to the field." The copy took up the final zone that wasn't linked to Zander's markers. It was highly likely that due to its weak attack and the way its markers were positioned that it held some sort of hidden effect. Then there was the addition of that facedown card, with Seraph being his so called disciple, there was no doubt that it would weaken his attack.

"Appear! The future circuit that lights up my path! The summoning conditions are at least two monsters! I set both Sniffer Dragons and Gateway Dragon in the Link Markers!" The three Dragon monster transformed into red energy and flew to the link square "Circuit combine! Appear! Link 3! Three Burst Dragon!"

Revolver's Link Monster was a medium sized red armoured dragon with sharp teeth and claws that had a torso like a bullet chamber and three cannons that stuck out from said chamber.

 **Three Burst Dragon, Link 3, Dragon, DARK, Effect (2400) Link Markers: Top, Left and Bottom**

"Is that really your plan?" Zamiel asked with a mocking tone, sounding like an amalgamation between Mammon and Seraph "Don't think that I don't know all of your cards' effects, I know you summoned that card hoping to use its effect to negate the activation of my trap card which you assumed to be a battle trap, correct?"

Revolver growled but relented "Yes."

His reaction earned a dry laugh from the hellish master "And using that alongside what I already know about you, I can predict your exact moves. I activate the trap **Hunting Bullet Storm**!" This new card showed Zander alongside another Free Shooter Link Monster that was cloaked in the shadows, the only thing seen was long sniper riffle. Beneath them was a mass of soldiers running straight into a hail of bullets, "This card can only be activate if I control a Free Shooter Link Monster and my opponent has a Link Monster with a higher Link Rating than mine!"

Revolver gritted his teeth, he really should've expected this, the man was a natural manipulator outside of dueling, so many had fallen under his sway and walked right into his hands, becoming nothing more than puppets dancing along to his game.

"Bullet Storm's effect is as follows. This card now equips itself to your monster." The card dissolved into a black fog, slowly but surely it encased the dragon "Now, your monster's effect is negated and its attack is cut in half for the duration that this card remains on the field."

Three Burst Dragon's ATK: **2400 – 1200**

"The only downside of this card would be that every standby phase I have to pay 500 life points in order to keep this card on the field." Zamiel commented as smug and arrogant as ever.

There was only one move left for Revolver now this turn, albeit through heavily gritted teeth "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Revolver's cards x2

It was just then that Three Burst Dragon suddenly turned and fired on his owner. It was only due to his quick reflexes that Revolver was able to dodge the bullet.

Revolver's LP: **4000 – 3500**

"Oh, I forgot to mention. As long as the monster that is equipped with Bullet Strom remains active on the field, you'll take 500 points of damage at the end of each of your turns." Zamiel watched with glee at his increasing control of the duel and Revolver's misfortunes.

"You're pitiful." Zamiel said coldly, fiddling with one of the golden rings on his wrist "But I suppose that runs in your family. Your father was much the same, before the Lost Incident he was so full of a desire to make humanity better in his words, like you already know, he set out to make humanity's legacy and successors. He wanted to be a creator, an omnipotent god, yet he became impotent instead, a shell of his former self. It was pitiful."

It took an inhuman effort from Revolver to prevent himself from attacking the man physically "You have no right to talk about him that way. At least during all that time he retained his humanity unlike you."

"You really believe that?" Zamiel couldn't believe his ears "My, you're just as deluded as he was. The man used young children as his subjects. Don't you remember every individual scream of the children? Don't you remember not being able to save all of them? Words can only do so much."

Revolver grasped his arm tightly and his lip quivered, everything the hellish master had said there was true. When he had first discovered the project it was a shock to his very being, he saw those children dueling to survive and tortured upon their defeats. He couldn't believe that his father had done this. He could still remember the worried faces of Aso and Kyoko when they had found him wondering around the place in a daze.

However, he couldn't let himself fall into Zamiel's trap. To make him break was his goal and Revolver wouldn't dare give that man any sign of victory.

But there was still one outlying issue _'If that's what his face down card was, then why did he activate Hunting Zone and leave himself open for attack if he was just going to block it?'_

 **Turn 3**

"My turn, I draw. Now, to keep Bullet Strom active on the field, I must pay 500 life points." The mist surrounded the hellish master, who stood firm and unflinching when it started to shock him.

Zamiel's LP: **3800 – 3300**

"From my hand, I activate the Spell **Ascendant Art – Hunting**!" At the mention at the name Ascendant Art, Revolver stepped back, the images of Seraph and Mammon's duel flashed into his head. The card showed the monster which had previously been hidden by shadows being watched over by Shi who was surveying the battle field "I do hope my student doesn't mind that I took one of his cards. But I think he knows that one must do everything humanly possible to win. This Ascendant Art has the following effect, by destroying one Spell or Trap card I control my Free Shooter Link Monster gains attack points equal to the total difference in our life points until the end of the turn! I destroy Bullet Storm!" The Trap card was rather ironically destroyed in a hail of bullets and the mist which had covered Three Burst Dragon vanished from the monster, yet still remained present on the field.

Three Burst Dragon's ATK: **1200 – 2400**

Revolver was definitely confused now, Zamiel's plan seemed to follow no real rhyme or reason, all that move had done was significantly strength his field. Just what as he really planning? Revolver narrowed his yellow eyes towards the enigma in front of him.

"Now, since Bullet Storm was destroyed, the duelist who owns the card in question gets hit with an additional 500 points of damage." The mist retuned to Zamiel's person, decreasing his life points once more.

Zamiel's LP: **3300 – 2800**

"And if you remember, Zander for the rest of this turn due to Ascendant Art – Hunting gains attack points equal to the difference in our life points!"

Zander's ATK: **200 – 900**

"It doesn't stop there either! I activate the second effect of Hunting Zone! By paying 500 life points I can have my monster attack you directly this turn, the only penalty will be that the damage dealt has to be cut in half!" That declaration didn't faze Revolver in the slightest, he was already prepared for this kind of event this duel would soon be over.

Zamiel's LP: **2800 – 2300**

Zander's ATK: **900 – 1400**

"Battle! Zander attacks you directly!" Zander grinned and took the shotgun off his shoulder, the hunter then loosed the two salvos at the Leader of the Knights of Hanoi.

"I activate the Trap Magic Cylinder!" One of Revolver's facedowns turned face up to reveal the image of two cylinders, with one absorbing the attack and the other sending it away "This card not only negates your monster's attack but you are also dealt the damage that I would've taken!" The rounds were quickly sucked into the incoming cylinder and fired out the other towards Zamiel.

However, the person in question only laughed the bullets raced towards him, wagging his finger condescendingly "I don't think I can allow that. Zander's effect activates! When this card has no monster linked to it, it is unaffected by Spell or Trap cards when it attacks!"

Revolver staggered back and gritted his teeth, so that was the main effect. "In addition to that, I activate the last card in my hand, the Quick-Play Spell card, **Hunting Hell Strom**!" This card was rather simple in its design, just having a large fireball consuming most of the image while two Draxes were trying to out run it "This card now gives Zander the ability to attack again, however, this time round, he will gain half of his current attack points!"

Zander's ATK: **1400 – 2100**

"What!" A fiery aura surrounded Zander as his eyes glowed a menacing red, his gun also transformed into a single shot long barrelled handgun, within the flash of the gun and the sound reaching his ears, Revolver was skidding across the base with a huge hole in his right shoulder.

Revolver's LP: **3500 – 2450**

"Luckily for yourself, Hell Storm's effect doesn't supersede Hunting Zone's effect so you dodge the bullet on that occasion." Zamiel said with a mocking tone as the hole was gradually closed by red data.

"I don't know how many times I've seen this scene before." Zamiel's gleeful tone was enough to take Revolver's attention away from the searing pain he felt and towards his opposite number "Someone grovelling at my feet, the sinner's fate under my discretion and the inevitable payoff to follow from the higher ups. It happened with your father and I'm willing to bet that I'll be even more irreplaceable when you are licking my boots."

"If you weren't aware, I'm still not finished, I can't allow myself to lose to the likes of you!" Revolver declared in bold defiance.

However, all his stand earned him was another amused snort "Your father said the exact same thing ten years ago and look what that earned him. You'd do well not to anger me any further than you already have."

"You'll never win." Revolver said, albeit much quieter now with certain images and events replaying in his mind "I refuse to lose to anyone who isn't human."

Immediately from the use of the word 'human' one could tell that Zamiel had an adverse reaction, the sound of metal once more penetrated the air as the hellish master moved furiously "Silence! Don't you dare call me inhuman! I'm just as human as anyone else is! If anything your father is the inhuman one, he put his faith in Ai, he was deluded!"

Seeing the success he had, Revolver smirked "Then what is SOL Technologies' plan for the Ignises? If you claim to hold as much sway as you do then why is there no co-ordinated effort to eliminate the Ignises or to locate and destroy the cyberse world?"

The hellish master emitted a low demonical growl "Wouldn't you like to know?" He sneered, forgoing his modulator for the time being, revealing the true voice of the man "I don't believe in the path my company is following, that much I can reveal. That path can only lead to chaos and destruction. But the reason they were led down this path was because of the delusions of a mad man, who sought something as insane as preserving 'humanity's legacy'. You, my friend, are just as deluded as he was. That is why I despise you with every part of my being! I'll shatter you into a million fragments because after all it doesn't matter what it was before, once you break something it is nothing but trash!" The demonic voice faded back in as the speech came to an end.

Revolver smirked triumphantly, the hellish master's little weakness had just laid itself bare.

"I continue my turn by activating the last effect of Bullet Strom from my graveyard! I banish it alongside one Free Shooter from my graveyard to summon the remaining Drax that resides in it." Drax jumped back onto the field in Zamiel's Middle Monster Zone.

"Ascend from the Hellish Yard! My circuit of despair! The summoning conditions are one Free Shooter Link Monster and at least one Free Shooter effect monster! Circuit combine! Link 3! Behold, the demon huntsman! **Free Shooter Nemesis!** "

 **Free Shooter Nemesis, Link 3, Pyro, FIRE, Effect (0) Link Markers: Top, Bottom left, Bottom Right**

This new monster stood in stark contrast to Zander before him. This Free Shooter was a full blooded demon with horns, a tail and sharp claws. Wrapped around its neck was a necklace of what looked to be finger bones while the rest of his body was covered by some torn fur garb. Currently it had one squinted looking down the snipper riffle it was holding, the other was glowing a similar yellow to Revolver's own eyes. "With that I end my turn."

Zamiel's cards x0

 **Turn 4**

"I draw." Revolver looked rather smug as he added the new card to his hand and made a move to select another card "Since both you and I control a Link Monster I can activate this card, the Spell Marker Charge! This card allows me to draw two new cards from my deck." The two cards ejected themselves from Revolver's deck as he explained the rest of the card "However, I must show you the cards taken and they are banished from my hand if they remain there at the end of my turn." The two cards were revealed to be a monster that Zamiel recognised as being Magnarokket Dragon and an unknown spell card.

"I now activate the Field Spell card Revolve Boot Sector! And I immediately use its effect to summon Anesthrokket Dragon and Sniffer Dragon from my hand!" The syringe headed mechanical dragon appeared on the field, linked to Three Burst Dragon's bottom marker whilst the final copy of Sniffer Dragon emerged right beside it.

 **Anesthrokket Dragon, Level 1, Dragon, DARK, Effect, (** 0/ **2200)**

"I activate the Spell Link Coin!" The unknown spell had quickly revealed itself, dissolving from Revolver's hand to the field "For this card I must send one Link Monster I control to the graveyard." Three Burst Dragon quickly dissolved into a sea of cerulean pixels, leaving the hellish master perplexed "Now, I send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard equivalent to the Link Rating of the sent monster. Three Burst Dragon had three." The three cards made themselves known and Revolver's smirk grew ever wider "I add the monster **ShellBurst Dragon**!"

Revolver continued his move whilst the Hellish master looked on rather uninterestingly, finding the ground far more entertaining than listening to some angsty teen shout about dragons.

"Using its effect from my hand I can summon ShellBurst Dragon directly to the field!" The new Dragon was just as small as the other ones but it had more obvious purple scales and was hat least half organic. In its chest was four cannons, all pointed directly at Zamiel.

 **ShellBurst Dragon, Level 4, Dragon, DARK, Effect (1200/** 600 **)**

"This card can be summoned to the field so long as I control two different Rokket monsters and do you know the best part of this…?" He drawled mimicking his hunter's own mocking speech.

"What?" Zamiel replied.

"If my opponent controls a Link Monster and I don't, that opponent lose 200 life points for each Marker that Link Monster has! Fire!" Three of the cannons swiftly lit and launched their salvos at Zamiel, the first one tearing a gap in the left side of his body, blowing him back and removing the hood revealing the man's spiky blue hair. The second shot landed lust inches away from the centre of Zamiel's body, landing just under his right arm. However, he wasn't so lucky the third time with the lead ball striking the right side of his face, tearing half of his mask off in the process alongside a good half of the hellish master's face being scarred.

Zamiel's LP: **2300 – 1700**

"I'm not done either!" Revolver said much to the chagrin of Zamiel, who had just picked himself off the floor "I use my normal summon for the turn to summon Metalrokket Dragon to the field!" The arrival of his final dragon meant that the stage was all set.

"Now, appear before me! The future circuit that lights up my path! The summoning conditions are at least three effect monsters!" The four Dragon monsters transformed into red energy and flew to the link square "Circuit combine! My new wind that pierces through the closed world! Link summon! Appear, Link 4 Borreload Dragon!" A dragon that was covered in sliver amour, had luminous neon green wings and a torso which looked like a revolver appeared on Revolver's field. There was nothing but pure hatred in its eyes as it looked down at Zamiel, who despite the setbacks and his seemingly impending defeat, was looking completely unfazed.

 **Borreload Dragon, Link 4, Dragon, DARK, Effect (3000) Link Markers: Bottom Left, Bottom Right, Middle Left and Middle Right**

"I activate Borreload Dragon's effect! Once per turn I can target one monster my opponent controls and negate its effect and cause it to lose 500 attack and points." Revolver didn't care much for the attack decrease since Nemesis didn't have any point, he was more concerned about any trouble some effect it may have. "Anti-enemy Varret!" Borreload's chamber locked into position and fired at Nemesis.

In response Zamiel tutted and shook his head "Have you learned nothing? So long as the Link Markers of Nemesis remain open, my monster is immune from any card effects that target it!" The bullet phased through Nemesis and disappeared deep into the base.

"That doesn't matter! You only have 1700 Life Points left and Borreload Dragon has 3000, in addition not only does your monster have 0 attack points but your Hunting Zone Spell means that you're the only target and with no cards in your hand it is game over."

"Oh really?" Zamiel said sounding amused at the whole situation "Well… Why don't you attack already? If I'm really on the verge of losing then you should have nothing to worry about." The smirk which appeared to be ever present on his face only grew wider with each passing second.

Revolver went to declare the attack, but as the words formed they just as quickly vanished on his tongue, leaving him incredibly confused _'Why can't I speak?! What the hell is going on?!'_

"What's this? Cat got your tongue? Although, I wouldn't put it past you to have gone silent in somebody's time of need." Revolver's eyes widened as Zamiel's lips curled backwards "After all, ten years ago, you left barely enough time to save the children of the Lost Incident. Who knows what would've happened if you acted sooner? Maybe the damage done to those innocent children would've been weakened somewhat."

"Silence…" Revolver wanted to come out as the strong imposing leader of the Knights of Hanoi, instead all that came out was the voice of the scared eight year old who had first wondered into his father's dark secret.

"Now, tell me, Ryoken Kogami. Do you know what happened to all those children? Because I sure do." That revelation hit Revolver for six and his eyes widened to astronomical proportions "In fact, I have information on their current whereabouts and status. Take for example the subject that made the Dark Ignis, one of the two you reached out to. He's now an emissary of revenge, ready to crush your group and even you, his saviour. His whole life thanks to that incident has become nothing but cold endless fury."

There was an eerie silence that settled over the base, Revolver wanted to shout at the top of lungs but something was still stopping him "Luckily for you, SOL Technologies has already devised the plan for his capture and if he thinks he can simply log out of VRAINS to escape us then he's sorely mistaken."

"Don't you dare!" Revolver shouted, finally finding his voice after Zamiel's speech.

"Oh? Showing affinity for the enemy are we?" Zamiel said mockingly "Even if I didn't want to capture Playmaker and Ignis, the order has already been agree on by all parties. That's just the chain of command."

"Borreload, direct attack! Crush him! Thunder Varrel canon!" Revolver yelled fervently, completely ignoring the last part of Zamiel's soliloquy. The energy that had gathered in the Borreload's cannon was unleashed in one all mighty burst with only one aim in mind.

The hellish master could only sigh at Revolver's brazen attack "Pathetic. I activate Nemesis' effect! When I'm the target of the direct attack this card will instead become the target." The previously intangible Free Shooter returned to the corporeal realm as the attack inched ever closer "Here's the thing, when this card that I control is involved in an attack from an opponent's monster, during the battle phase only, it gains attack points equal to the monster attacking it!" Revolver recoiled upon hearing that as a purple mist slinked out of the ground and surrounded Nemesis.

Nemesis' ATK: **0 – 3000**

Revolver gritted his teeth as Nemesis shot back at Borreload, both blasts landing at the same time, creating two huge explosions "Luckily for you, the monster attacking Nemesis is safe from destruction but so is Nemesis, which leads to its last effect. The monster that was targeted by this effect not only loses half of its attack permanently but its owner is also dealt 500 points of damage for each Link Monster currently on the field!"

As soon as the explosion had settled, Revolver spotted Nemesis reloading its riffle before it took aim and fired, the bullet travelled faster than expected and succeeded in cutting deep into its intended target Revolver's right arm, causing the person in question to howl in pain.

Borreload's ATK: **3000 – 1500**

Revolver's LP: **2450 – 1450**

"However, there is one downside for this effect. I must now half my life points as a cost." Nemesis then turned on its own creator and lined up his shot, gouging a deeper hole into the master's face just under his right eye, it joining alongside the other scars from Revolver's cannon which had yet to heal.

Zamiel's LP: **1700 – 850**

"I-I end my turn…" Revolver barely manged to etch out in between increasing haggard breaths.

Nemesis' ATK: **3000 – 0**

Revolver's Cards x0

 **Turn 5**

"Draw." The hellish master frowned momentarily at the drawn card before recomposing himself "I activate the final effect of Hunting Zone! By sending this card I control to the graveyard, I can add one Free Shooter from the graveyard back to my hand. That means that Free Shooter Drax is coming back to the field" As quick as the card had ejected its self, it had been slapped on the duel disk. Taking position in Zamiel's Middle Monster Zone.

"Unfortunately, since Hunting Zone has now left the field, I lose life points equal to the number of Link Markers I control." The dark mist slithered out of the graveyard of Zamiel's disk, zapping his points down once more.

Zamiel's LP: **850 – 550**

"Drax's effect, by paying 200 life points I can summon the last remaining copy from my deck." The last copy of the Free Shooter took up position in the Far Left Monster Zone.

Zamiel's LP: **550 – 350**

"The summoning conditions are two Free Shooter fire monsters. Circuit combine! Free Shooter Zander!" The second version of the card took position in the Middle Monster Zone just under Nemesis. "Since there is now a monster linked to him, I can activate Zander's true effect! When this card is linked to a Free Shooter Link Monster I control, it gains attack points equal to the total amount of Link Markers on the field x200! In layman's terms that is 2200 attack points!" The cocky huntsman's muscles bulged as the power filled him.

Zander's ATK: **0 – 2200**

"Battle!" Zamiel declared fervently "Nemesis attack Borreload Dragon! You know what happens next, Nemesis now gains Borreload's attack points!" The speeding bullet pierced the wind with an increased strength as it headed towards Borreload.

Nemesis' ATK: **0 – 1500**

"Return fire, Borreload!" The encroaching bullet was snuffed out by the torrent that was Borreload Dragon's attack.

Zamiel, however, wasn't at all concerned, smirking triumphantly in a sadistic fashion "Nemesis' second effect now triggers, your Borreload now loses half of its attack points once more!"

Borreload's ATK: **1500 – 750**

"Ah, we've finally come full circle! It looks like your sordid story is finally coming to end. Zander now has enough attack points to bring your life points down to 0." The hellish master looked at the human huntsman who all of a sudden turned to him and nodded, with his grin going crooked "This ends here! Free Shooter Zander! Shatter him! Dual Blast!"

Zander momentarily traded glances with Revolver, then without any hesitation sent out what should've been Revolver's death knell. However, the leader of the Knights of Hanoi wasn't going to go down this easily.

"How foolish of you…" Revolver drawled in a deep baritone causing Zamiel's smirk to recede ever so slightly "Did you forget that I had another face down card?" When the hellish master didn't reply Revolver continued on "To the likes of you, there is something I won't do… I will NEVER lose! I activate the Trap Card Mirror Force!" At the mention of the card's name, Zamiel's face contorted yet there was still no movement on his side "Since one of your monsters declared an attack I can destroy all monsters that are in attack position on your side of the field!"

Zander's shots were absorbed into the card and were swiftly blasted back at him, destroying the monster "Since his Link Makers are still open, Nemesis is immune from this effect." Zamiel said through gritted teeth as the blast dissipated. "I end my turn here."

Zamiel's cards x1

 **Turn 6**

"I draw. Now, during my standby phase the second effect of Link Coin activates! The monster that was sent to the graveyard the previous turn is now revived! Resurrect! Three Burst Dragon!" The mechanical dragon emerged from the portal with a great cry.

He didn't miss a beat as he declared his next move "Battle! Borreload Dragon attacks Free Shooter Nemesis! Anti-enemy Varret!"

"Nemesis' effect. His attack is now the same as Borreload." For the third time in the duel, the two monsters clashed with the result being exactly the same, except for the fact that now Revolver had a hard counter to it.

Nemesis ATK: **0 – 750**

"That doesn't matter! Three Burst Dragon! End this!" The three turreted dragon blasted the Free Shooter and despite the monster's desperate attempts to dodge the blasts it was finally hit, tearing a massive whole straight through its chest causing the final blow to the hellish master's life points.

The duelist in question stood silently as the blasts landed around him, the last half of his mask being blown off as well.

Zamiel's LP: **350 – 0**

Revolver: **Win!**

Revolver panted heavily. The duel had really taken a lot out of him and the damage dealt by Zamiel's cards had still yet to heal. That didn't matter though, he had defeated the man who had haunted him for ten years.

Yet there was something that didn't seem right about it. Zamiel had ended the duel with one card still left in his hand. It was highly improbable that it didn't have some sort of usefulness, so why didn't he use it?

"Seven bullets were once given to the original Free Shooter. Six of the bullets would hit whatever the huntsman so desired. However, the seventh bullet… Was to be controlled by the demon huntsman himself." Cryptic didn't even begin to describe the hellish master's comments as the person in question took off deep into the base, vanishing with one final statement "The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame."

* * *

 **(Elsewhere in Link VRAINS)**

"The Another virus." Colt surveyed the scene around him, he was close enough to notice that when the nearby Playmaker made his way to a fallen Knight and demanded the removal program, said Knight disintegrated in a similar manner to Dr Genome did before revealing the mastermind "I can only assume that the Knights are also under its effect. For if they lose, they're purged from the ranks." Underneath his mask, he smirked "How interesting."

As his D-board sped by, he jumped off the roof he was perched upon, soon coming face to face with a lone Knight searching for a target "Now, repent for all your sins!" He declared, fashioning his hand into a gun gesture

"Who the hell are you?!" The Knight shouted back, clearly confused.

"I'm Colt and I'll be the one to take you and your entire odious group down!"

The Knight grinned "Is that so? Well! You mightn't be Playmaker or Go Onizuka but I'll be more than happy to eliminate you for Master Revolver!"

" **Duel!** "

 **(Time Skip)**

"Any last words?" Colt asked, almost mockingly as Retributioner store down the cowering Knight, who couldn't so much as fashion a word. "A man of few words I see. No matter, Retributioner attacks you directly! Wrath shot!"

The disguised assassin pulled out two revolvers and fired crimson bullets sapping the last remaining life points the Knight had.

Knight's LP: **?** **– 0**

Colt: **Win!**

The sheer velocity of the bullets and the forward motion of the speed duel, lead to the Knight being catapulted against a nearby building, sliding the structure until he hit the earth with Colt following swiftly down to face him.

However, just as Colt went to interrogate the knight, the effects of the virus had kicked in and he was soon painfully dissolved into a sea of grey, leaving nothing but the destroyed landscape behind.

"Tch." Colt clicked his tongue in annoyance "At least that's one less Hanoi in the system. If only they stuck around long enough to give info." It was then that the image of a certain spiky haired individual flashed into his mind "I wonder…"

But his reverie was rudely interrupted by a rather annoying high pitch voice that he was steadily growing to hate by each passing second 'Playmaker, look! It's that Colt guy again! Maybe if we corner him now, we'll get him to tell us SOL's plans!' Ai squawked

"Honestly, I thought Seraph was an asshole but you're starting to usurp even him for that place. I don't know whether to laugh or cry." Colt deadpanned causing the Ignis to splutter some sort of reply which quickly became indecipherable, not that it really mattered to the two humans who were busy trying to put on their best strong man personas.

"What do you want?" Playmaker said, cutting any unnecessary filler out of the conversation.

"You have something I want, that data you took from the SOL databank not only included info on the Lost incident. It also contained data on the project that tore my life in two. The Inferno project!" Colt declared.

'Inferno project?' Ai squawked, jumping out of the duel disk to take his semi physical form 'I'm sure that the only thing one there was related to the Lost Incident…' Ai muttered scratching his head.

Meanwhile, Playmaker was going through his memory to try and see if there was indeed info on what Colt was claiming. He could vaguely remember Zitor saying something along those lines. First he looked down at Ai "I think you should shut up. He's talking to me and if I don't erase your coding, he certainly will." Then he turned his gaze to the Codecracker duelist, who was growing more irate by the second.

However, before he could speak, Colt had jumped in "Hold it. I've got a better idea. How about you and I duel for it? If I win not only do I gain your Ignis but also the data you hold on the inferno project. SOL Technologies would be very pleased…" He said leering at Ai who shrunk back into the duel disk with a muffled cry of 'P-protect me, P-playmaker!'

Playmaker didn't look fazed and although he really wanted to focus on Hanoi in addition to not wanting to give up the Ignis to SOL, if what the hunter said was true then who was he to stand in the way? "I accept your conditions."

The wind of the datastorm started to pick up around as their D-boards began to speed towards them "It's time to see if you're really all you're cracked up to be. You may have bested people like Revolver, Mammon and even Lucifinia but I'm a whole different beast!"

" **Speed Duel!"**

* * *

 **A/N: Well, this took a lot longer than I really wanted. I actually began to write another story in the downtime when I was thinking what to put in this chapter. It was actually my first attempt at writing a non-Yugioh story and it is still in the works, so don't expect this to be updated until sometime in late January/early February in the new year.**

 **Anyway, I want to mention something about this specific chapter. The duel between the Master of the Hellish Yard and Revolver may seem too quick pacing wise but there is a specific reason why it happened. Also, if there is someone who gets the reference I made at the start of the chapter without looking it up then I applaud you.**

 **The only question have this time is: What did you think of the duel in this chapter? I'm just curious to know.**


	11. What's going on with this story

So, this wasn't something I was expecting to do. I guess I'm only now waking up to the fact of what a shit show this quickly became, I had started to write this only a couple months after I joined the site, I was still really inexperienced and I was still under the impression that I could have a free flowing structure where everything would lead to one thing, I didn't think to actually structure it properly. I'm really on this downwards slope at the minute, the same thing happened with my Arc-V story.

I committed many of the cardinal sins of writing when I started writing this. I didn't have a clue where I was going with the story as I really didn't expect people to read it. I didn't have firm character bios for personalities or backstories. Nothing was planned out ahead of time which lead to haphazard storytelling and awful pacing.

It also doesn't help that I grew to dislike Vrains during Season 2 for how repetitive and melodramatic it got. I stopped watching it soon after GO's duel against Earth but reading the synopsis on the Wiki just made it seem so boring. "Oh look! It's another character 'dying' again!" Come on, that was done in season 1, repeating it is lazy as all hell.

The main issue I had with this story as a whole was how it felt like a Frankenstein's monster of ideas that either had no impact on the overall story and characters that appeared out of thin air and had practically no development to them.

Doesn't helped that I copied one anime duel word for word and did another one in a similar fashion.

Honestly, everything in this story was really poorly structured and I had a fucking mess on my hands every time I tried to write a new chapter, which in turn would only add more to the mess that I had created.

People who have read both this story and my original Arc-V story, you know that this isn't unusual, it was the same problem that plagued that story too. Messy characterisation, shitty ideas that went nowhere, characters out of nowhere, bad pacing, the whole nine yards.

I've been deliberating over this for the past couple days, whether I could salvage this story from the shit I had put it in or if I would turn off its life support. I'm choosing the latter.

This version of the story is too messed up for me to fix and I'm cutting its head off.

But that doesn't mean that it will die.

Much like Arc-V, I'm going to take another shot at writing this. This time round, there is going to be actual thought into the characters, the plot lines and the character's backstories, it will lead to a more coherent structure and I will write a better story.

With that said and done, be sure to look out for when I reboot this story in the next month or so. In the meantime, read the rebooted Arc-V story if you haven't already.

See you then.


	12. Update on new story

This is simply a notification that the new story has been posted if you haven't noticed yet. I forgot to do this yesterday. Please go check it out and tell me what you think.


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